Unfaithful
by Jeanne Luz
Summary: Tony and Ziva are sent undercover at NAS Pensacola to catch a killer. Small section of chapter 6 is M. other than that it's totally T. Sequel to 'Beyond' although you needn't have read or remember it. RomanceAngstMystery TIVA
1. Chapter 1

First and Formost. This is just a work of FanFiction. None of the characters of NCIS are mine. I know it. You know it. DPB owns them. We all know it. Cheers to Jacey05 and TonyZivaFan for all their help and willingness to read the sheer volume of drafts I produce. Here it is. You probably thought this day would never come. The sequel to Beyond and Pack Your Gear. You don't need to reread them to understand this but since it's been a while, let's review shall we? The short and sweet summary of what's happened in the past is this: Tony and Ziva are a couple. She had a rather nasty sister in law who shot her thus ending a just begun pregnancy. Oh. And there's a McAbby baby due on halloween but they're fairly peripheral. TIVA's my main focus. This is T for now but some point will be M. Cheers-Jeanne 

UnFaithful

"Good news Abbs. I come bearing gifts." Tony said. He set a vanilla kiwi slushie on the lab worktable. Caf Pows were out now that she was pregnant. "Thought you could use a refill."

Abby looked up from her comparison microscope. "Thanks."

Her eyeliner coursed in heavy black tracks down her face.

Tony gave her a gentle hug. "What did McGee do this time?" Level headed Abby had been the hormone queen as of late and it was a good bet that whatever the emotion, McGee was the one she'd hold responsible.

"He wants to trade in my hearse for a family car."

"Oh." He grimaced. "Don't you think a baby in a hearse is a little macabre Abby?"

She glared at him with such intensity he thought he might catch fire. "Not you too."

"Like I was saying, there's nothing wrong with the hearse." He said, mentally kicking himself for temporarily forgetting Gibbs' rule number 101. _Pregnant women are always right._

"My point exactly." Abby stood and leaned backwards, her hands on her lower back. "Come on. I have to go put my feet up or I'm going to be walking on water balloons soon."

He trailed after her into the office section of her lab.

She sat down and propped her feet up at her desk. "Stick a fork in me I'm done. Seriously, if I had one of those turkey pop up timer thingies, it would so be sticking out right now. Come to think of it, don't you think that would be cool? You get a little timer when you're pregnant and when it pops out Ding! Ding! Ding! The baby's done."

Tony nodded in what he hoped was a sympathetic manner.

Abby spoke between slurps. "I'm sick of being pregnant. I've tried everything-we've driven up and down the bumpy road, eaten spicy food, had sex until-"

"Whoa." He put his fingers to his ears. "Please Abby. I'm begging you to stop."

"That's what McGee said." She fiddled with her black onyx engagement ring. Some weeks ago her fingers had become too swollen to wear it and she'd hung it on a chain around her neck. "I feel like I'm hosting an alien. Like any minute a bug-eyed creature is going to burst out of my belly button."

"Two more weeks. Can't be that bad, can it? Oh." Tony said as he caught her glare. "Okay it's that bad."

Abby lifted her skull and cross bones t-shirt and exposed her rounded belly. "What do you think Bucky? You ready to come out?"

"Bucky?"

"Buckminsterfuller? A Bucky Ball, Carbon 60?" She said.

"You might want to rethink that before the kid goes to school Abby."

"It's only temporary." She sucked forcibly at her slushy. "You and Ziva still on the outs?"

"She threw a waffle maker at my head."

Abby stifled her laugh at his wounded look. "Sorry. It's just that every single pregnant woman has wanted to do that at some point to her partner and she actually went ahead and did it."

_Pregnant woman?_ "Something you're not telling me Abbs?" He leaned forward in his seat. Had it not been for a well-placed bullet by her sister in law-Ziva too would be sporting a definite bump courtesy of him.

Abby gulped more slushie. Wide-eyed, she shook her head no.

"Good." He knew Ziva had replaced him with a Baltimore cop named Ryan Hale: a complete and total ass in his estimation. The thought of her carrying around his or any man's progeny pissed him off. _Because if she was pregnant and it was mine, she'd tell me, she promised._

Ziva. To his surprise when his anger with her had faded he found he truly missed her. Thoughts of her fogged his mind. Ziva pissed off. Ziva trading verbal jabs with him. Ziva smiling at him when she thought no one was looking. Ziva making dinner. Ziva nude astride him. _Stop. Don't even think about sex. It's been too long._ He tried to distract himself with Abby's _Pregnancy Sucks!_ soliloquy. It wasn't working. Ziva soaping herself up in the shower was currently playing in his mental home movie.

The phone on the desk buzzed. Abby hit speaker. "You're on the air. Watch your language, children are present."

"Tony. MTAC. Now." Gibbs' voice boomed.

"Children?" Tony asked. "Got twins on board Abbs?"

"Nah. Twins is a nightmare to any pregnant woman. I was talking about you…"

X

Ziva was the last one into MTAC. She slipped through the heavy soundproofed doors and hurried to take her place on the floor. The air in the room felt stiff and wooden. Blood roared in her ears. Little spots danced with reckless abandon in her field of vision. She felt a wave of nausea and reached out to steady herself on Tony. He gave her a curious look and his gaze softened.

"You okay?"

_I'm bread._ _No wait. Toast._ She forced herself to breathe. "Fine."

He steered her to one of the seats and she sank quickly into it. "Liar." He whispered, his breath hot on her cheek.

She opened her mouth to respond but thought the better of it as the rest of the team sat beside them.

Jenny nodded to the switchboard operator and the plasma screen clicked to life. "Pensacola naval air station. Two unsolved murders in the past forty-eight hours. Both ruled accidental by the local ME."

A photo of a nude middle-aged woman with ropey muscles flashed on the screen. She floated peacefully in her tub, save her wide-eyed look of total shock. She had not been expecting to die.

"Delphine Swift, Lead Field Agent for NCIS. Her husband's an airplane mechanic for the Blue Angels. He worked an overnight and found her like this yesterday morning. The local NCIS ME has tentatively ruled it a slip and fall resulting in an accidental drowning."

"She doesn't look like the "help I've fallen and I can't get up,' type." Tony remarked.

A smile tugged at the corner of Jenny's lips. She nodded again and the picture changed. "Shawn Marner. Unarmed combat instructor. Dropped dead of a heart attack on the sparring mats."

"What makes us think they're not freak accidents?" McGee asked.

In response the pictures turned to live feed. A woman with honey brown hair and a sprinkle of freckles across her nose flashed onto the screen.

"Special Agent Camie Calloway." Jenny said. "We worked together briefly in Europe. She was Swift's senior field agent, now she's in the lead."

"Good to see you again Jen-er-Director." Calloway turned her green eyes on Gibbs. "You must be Special Agent Gibbs. The director says you and your team are the best and I'd appreciate any help I can get with this. Our ME has proved unreliable at best and I have to say, I'm not sure who to trust. Swift's husband says that someone searched their house, but nothing's out of place. The general consensus is that he's just too distraught to believe it could have been an accident. But…"

"She was murdered." Gibbs said.

"She was. I just can't prove it." She replied.

"And Marner?" Tony asked.

"I got a look at the body. His buddy Lt. Liptak claims to have done CPR but there were no signs of the trauma usually associated with it. But he did have a rather impressive bruise over his stomach."

"Maybe the guy wasn't up on his CPR skills." Tony stated.

Camie smiled at him and he felt Ziva tense by his side. "I doubt it. Liptak's credited with doing CPR on a little old lady who dropped dead of a heart attack in the freezer section of the local supermarket a couple of weeks ago. Brought her back to life. Ready for the kicker? Liptak and Marner supposedly have been close friends since high school."

"Makes sense." Tony stated. "Most people are murdered by someone they know."

"I _know_ that." Agent Calloway replied. "That _would_ by why he's the prime suspect."

"We'll be happy to help, Special Agent Calloway." Jen said. "We'll have the team in place tonight." She nodded and the plasma went blank.

Gibbs turned to the team. "One of our own was murdered. We're going to find out who did it."

"We going to Florida boss?" McGee asked. "Abby's due any day now."

"You and Abby stay here." He said. "We need to you to dig up all information on Marner and Liptak since they drew their first breath. I'm going to down to officially assist Special Agent Calloway's investigation." His eyes narrowed at Tony and Ziva as if what he was about to say tasted sour. "You two are going undercover to catch our killer."

Tony grinned. "Married assassins again?"

"More like an unarmed combat instructor." Jenny said.

Ziva smiled eagerly. "Should be fun."

"And a housewife." Gibbs continued.

Ziva's face fell. "Do I have to be happily married?"

A rare smile lit Gibbs' face. "Is there such a thing?"

X So let me know what you think. I do love to hear from you. Thank You to all who read and Thank You Thank You to all who review. Cheers, Jeanne 


	2. Chapter 2

We all know the disclaimer drill, so suffice to say it's in chapter one, if some how your reading experience isn't going to be complete without it. Here it goes. Enjoy! X 

The Jeep rattled to stop in the driveway of Shawn Marner's last residence. "Home sweet home." Tony said. "Look Mrs. Steele. Did you see who are new neighbors are?"

Ziva woke with a start at the sound of his voice. She blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"_Sara," _He said. "The Liptaks are our new neighbors."

She stifled a yawn. "How convenient."

"It is, isn't it?"

She yawned again and stretched before she got out of the car. "Nice place." She said nodding towards the house. The setting sun glowed pink against the stucco of the one story ranch. A few plucky palms trees grew in the front lawn. The scent of damp vegetation hung in the humid air.

"Is it just me or are you a little creeped out by the fact that we're staying in a dead man's house?" Tony asked as they started up the drive.

"No." Ziva said truthfully. "Maybe we should check under the bricks in the fireplace."

"I think you're falling down on the job dear. There's no fireplace here."

"I was referring to the book, Silas Marner. Don't you ever read?"

"Sure. But I like pictures." They paused on the front stoop. "Should I carry you over the threshold my love?"

She pushed the screen door open and went in ahead of him. "We're not that happily married."

Ziva surveyed the home from a tactical standpoint: Eat in kitchen, square living room with a bay window, tomato red bathroom, screened in back porch.

She caught up with Tony in the master bedroom. He lay stretched out on the double bed. He indicated the flat screen TV hung on the wall across from the bed. "Does it bother you too that Gibbs and company can look into our bedroom at any time?"

"I promise to keep my panties on." She said dryly.

Tony looked at her with a wolfish grin and patted the bed. "It's a lot smaller than what we're used to."

"Were used to. Past tense. Over and done with."

"So you tell me."

X

Ziva set down the knife she was using to chop vegetables for dinner to rub her aching stomach. She'd slept most of the flight down, her head lolling on Tony's shoulder but somehow she was still exhausted. She heard the door click closed on their bedroom.

Tony pressed a little kiss to the nape of her neck. In response she picked up the cleaver and hacked forcefully through a carrot.

"What are you making for dinner?" He hoped that he didn't sound as wounded as he felt.

"Veggie lasagna."

"Want some help?"

"You can finish chopping these." She said. "It's making me dizzy."

He gave her a quizzical look but her expression said _Drop it_. He did. He took the cleaver from her hands. "McGee tracked down Swift's credit cards. Seems on her last day on earth she went to the hairdressers and the grocery store. Bought beer, M&Ms and tampons."

Ziva laughed. "McGee had a hard time saying 'tampons,' didn't he?"

"Sounded like he was choking." They smiled at each other and for a moment he felt like the past two months had never happened. "Something else. Abby says she and McGee might have something. Megan Liptak formerly Megan Whitcomb went to high school with James Liptak and Shawn Marner in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine. Oh." He said pushing the chopped veggies into a bowl with the cleaver. "Here's the lifetime movie part. Daughter Mary Liptak was born five months after they got married-at age eighteen. Shot gun wedding I'm guessing."

"There are firearms involved in weddings in Maine?"

He laughed. "No. It refers to the father of the bride forcing the groom to marry his daughter at gun point since she's pregnant and it's obvious she's had premarital sex."

Ziva shook her head. "Virginity is over rated." He met her gaze with a grin. She smiled wickedly back at him. "Unfortunately sometimes so is sex."

"We're not talking about me here, are we?"

"No."

"Good. Or bad. Because I was going to have to prove you wrong if you said yes."

"It was good while it lasted." Ziva said softly. "I'll give you that." She shifted uncomfortably and looked out the kitchen window to the Liptack family eating dinner on the back deck. "Look. Another happy family dinner."

Purple-faced Liptak's veins stood out on his neck like cords as he screamed at his wife. Meg, for her part, returned his full-blown verbal assault with a sullen stare. Mary quietly picked up her plate and went into the house.

Tony was starting to wonder if he should interfere when Meg tossed the contents of her water glass in his face and fled into the house. Seconds later a car screeched as Meg rocketed back out of the driveway in a black sedan with Mary riding shotgun.

"Kinda makes you feel all warm and cozy inside." Tony said.

Ziva grinned. "I think I know who I'm going to make my new best friend tomorrow."

X

"You up for a little B&E?" Camie asked.

Gibbs dropped his bag on Calloway's spare bed and looked up at her. She was fresh faced, fortyish and smiled with her eyes. "Depends."

"I'm not talking about stealing the crown jewels here." She said. "Dr. Burke, our ME. I think he's purposefully screwed over the investigation."

"Ya think Calloway? He declared them both accidental deaths and didn't do a proper autopsy."

She laughed. "Jenny said I'd like you." She jangled her car keys. "The bodies were released this morning for burial to Kent Funeral Home. Want to take a look?"

"You going to do another autopsy?"

"As much as I can with out slicing and dicing."

"Lead the way."

X

"I can sleep on the floor if you want me too." Tony said.

"You don't need to do that." Ziva sat reclined against the bed pillows. She looked up from her book. "Unless you want to."

"No. Not really." He lifted the coverlet and slipped underneath, suddenly conscience of just how small the bed was going to seem in the morning.

"I'm not angry." She said.

"I know." He reached out and spun the simple gold ring around her finger. "No engagement ring? I know the budget's tight but Gibbs could have found you a cubic zirconia or something."

"I don't want one."

"Ever?"

"Ever. You know that."

X

"Oh for crying out loud." Camie's aggravated whisper sliced through the dark.

Gibbs swooped his penlight in her direction. In the crypt like blackness of the embalming room, Camie held aloft what appeared to be a Chinese food take out container. "This is all that's left of Special Agent Swift." She said. "Her husband had mentioned keeping her on the mantel. I'd thought he was joking."

"Apparently not." He said. He played his penlight over the nametags on the caskets. "Found Marner."

"Fantastic. Let's open it up. Got a screw driver on you?"

"Nope."

"I thought you had one of those stupid rules about always being prepared."

"Just how much did Director Sheppard tell you?"

"Nothing I couldn't have figured out for myself. Can we save this conversation until after we commit our felony?"

Gibbs laughed. "Something tells me that's not the first time you've said that." He flipped the lid of the casket open. "It's not screwed shut."

Camie's flashlight illuminated Marner's waxy form. "I'll make you deal Gibbs. I'll undress the corpse but you have to buy me a drink later. A lot of them."

"Just when I think I've heard it all." Gibbs said.

"Hey there Shawn." She gave him a little pat on the cheek. "Sorry about the invasion of privacy here but we've got to do it." She unbuttoned his dress shirt and indicated his stomach with her index finger. "Look. This is what I noticed, this huge bruise over his stomach but sort of more towards his right side here. Doesn't make sense to me." She pressed on his ribcage firmly with her gloved hand. "And if you feel his ribs, they're unbruised and uncracked. Doesn't look like Liptak did CPR."

"He didn't." Gibbs agreed as he snapped photos for Ducky. "Done."

"Good. Okay Shawn." Camie buttoned him back up and together they flipped the lid closed. "Nightly Night."

X

Ziva lay next to Tony on the double bed that seemed to grow smaller with each beat of her heart. He lay face down the pillow muffling his soft snores. She had learned to ignore them months ago but tonight they only served to remind her that everything had gone wrong, no matter how much she had wanted it to finally be right.

She forced herself to lie still on her back although her body screamed for movement. _Wouldn't want to find myself wrapped around you in the morning_. _It would be nice, though, jerk._

Unsuccessfully she tried to push away thoughts of what their future might have been like if they'd stayed together. _Happy mostly. No. Content mostly, with the occasional airborne waffle maker and night on the sofa._

Tony shifted in his sleep and his hand came out to rest on her ribcage. She slid it lower onto her stomach and his fingers rounded over her belly. She scooted closer to him and plunged into a deep and dreamless sleep.

X Thank you for all of my reviews. Hope you liked it. Let me know what you think. ThanksJeanne 


	3. Chapter 3

Once again disclaimer's in chapter one. This one's a little more plot orientated Next one has more tiva. promise. Have Fun! 

THREE

Ziva was the first to wake. She felt Tony's soft breath on her neck. Still sleeping, he nestled his head into the crook of her neck. His hand swept upwards from her stomach, to her ribs, to cup her left breast. He raised himself up over her and pressed his pelvis deeply into her lower abdomen. She yelped when the strength of his arousal dug into her belly.

"OW!" he shouted as her knee connected sharply with his groin. He blinked and looked groggily around the room. He lay face down in their bed, Ziva squashed underneath him.

"I've told you before." She said, her voice muffled by his body.

He rolled off, his legs drawn up. "You like the top." He wheezed.

"No-"

"No free feels?"

She growled. "No. Don't just slip it in while I'm sleeping. Especially when we're not dating."

"It wasn't me." He said. "Well it was but I wasn't awake. I'm not responsible for what it does when I'm not awake."

She smacked him in the face with her pillow. "What's your excuse when you are awake?" Her voice was light, as if she wanted to laugh.

"Hey. Ziva. Your breasts…"

"Drop it Tony."

"They feel weird. They're _huge_-not that I didn't like them before-but they're _huge_. And kinda hard. Did you…"

"Did I what?"

"Nothing…can we drop this now?"

X

Clad only in his boxers Tony stood framed by the open refrigerator sucking orange juice from the carton.

"Tony!" Ziva said sharply. He whirled, mid chug, to meet her angry glare. She brandished her toothbrush at him, her eyes narrowed into little slits.

He continued to drink despite her obvious disapproval, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. Satisfied he set the carton with the remaining inch of juice back on the shelf. He wiped his mouth. "What?"

"That's disgusting!"

"What? You kiss me. You lick…"

"I kissed you." She said. "Doesn't mean you can drink from the carton."

"Noted." He indicated the toothbrush she clenched in her hand. "You gonna clean the grout with that?"

"No." She waved it at him. "Mine's the only one in the bathroom. Where's yours?"

"I forgot mine. _That's_ joint custody."

Ziva handed it to him. "Keep it. I'll get a new one."

"Suit yourself," he said as he pulled it from her grasp.

She poured them each a cup of coffee. "What have you got planned for today? Going to get your ass handed to you by real live combat instructors?"

"No. You taught me well." He smiled. Some months ago he had consented to let her teach him what he termed _your crazy ninja skills. _Ziva was still the undisputed master but he could hold his own. He caught her smiling and knew what she was thinking-that the brutality of the activity usually culminated in something that made them each forget every bump and bruise. "How about you? Going to ride around in your house frau mobile and look for bad guys?"

"I'm going to run down Swift's last day on earth." She said. "And make friends with Mrs. Liptak."

Tony set his empty cup in the sink. "I'm going to see what I can dig up about Marner before he went to the big pot luck in the sky." He paused, holding the screen door open. "No kiss good bye?"

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him lightly on the lips, her touch feather soft but steady. She looked up at him. "For show."

"I know." He said. "We're not that happily married you and I."

X

"Dr. Buckley I presume." Agent Calloway's stentorian tone reverberated off of the tiled walls of autopsy.

Buckley looked up from his cadaver, Stryker saw in hand. He flipped up his face shield and did his best to glare at her through his coke bottle glasses. "Not you again."

"Sad but true. Would you like to try for the truth this time?" Calloway asked.

"I told you the truth." He lowered his face shield and flicked the saw on.

Gibbs yanked the power cord from the overhead socket. He snatched the saw from Buckley's hand. "I love these things."

"Yes. It's my favorite type of saw." Calloway stated. "You gotta love anything that can slice through a skull like a hot knife through butter."

Buckley cleared his throat. "Swift had injuries consistent with a slip and fall. She had no outward signs of struggle or defensive wounds. Marner died of a heart attack."

"Explain the bruising over his abdomen. And the fact that you never sent any blood samples to the lab." Calloway said.

Buckley raised both hands defensively. "There was no need. Preliminary findings indicated he died as the result of a heart attack."

Gibbs hefted the saw in his hands, testing the weight of it. "We need you to turn over everything you have on Marner and Swift."

"If it will get you off of my back, gladly." Buckly removed two thin file folders from his desk and thrust them at Calloway. "Here."

They were in the car before she spoke again. "He's in on it. Whatever it is."

"Ya think?"

"Yes. I do. I just said that. Cripes you're a pain in the behind! Anyone ever tell you that?"

"All the time but usually the metaphor's more colorful." Gibbs flipped open the autopsy files in his lap. "These are incomplete at best: A copy of the death certificate and a couple of photos. Who the hell hired this guy?"

"I think that's a whole other investigation." Calloway started the car and swung right out of the lot. "C'mon. We have to send those to your ME. And I need another cup of coffee before we go talk to the next mouth-breathing teammate of mine."

X

By midmorning Ziva hit pay dirt at the salon Swift had visited on her last day alive.

A woman with jet-black hair done in a spike leaned over the counter. Her nametag read Holly. "It's so sad. Delphine was so sweet. I mean she was as tough as nails, but sweet. Honestly, you could give that woman a Brazilian and it didn't bother her. Said it tickled."

The phone rang and Holly put it on hold. "Delphine was a regular. Except for last year when she had her hysterectomy, she was out for a while." She tapped her pen rapidly on the appointment book. "You want to know something strange?"

Ziva leaned closer. "I'm all ears."

"There was a guy. Military-I know the type. Big, built like a fire hydrant. I noticed him because he'd been hanging around the salon for a while. He just seemed so agitated. He was pacing back and forth in front of my window. I was about to call the police when he approached Delphine in the parking lot but she didn't seem concerned by him. Whatever he said to her though got her attention because they made off together in her car."

"Maybe he was her boyfriend?"

She laughed. "I doubt it. She wasn't that kind of woman."

X

McGee followed the sounds of what appeared to be rock and roll bagpipes into Autopsy. Abby and Ducky sat side by side in front of one of the tables, file folders and photos spread out on the table.

"You feeling okay Abby?"

"Okay enough." She said. "Why do you ask?"

He rolled his eyes in the direction of the speaker.

"It's Hevia." She said. "I'm expanding the Bucky's horizons, who by the way seems to like it. They're bopping along, wanna see?" She lifted her shirt and McGee focused on her face. While the pregnant bump had been sexy to begin with, the inside out belly button really grossed him out.

"Wow." He gulped. "Cool." He gestured to the photos on the steel table. "Looks like fun."

"It is." Abby nodded and her pigtails bounced. "In light of the dearth of physical evidence from the case Ducky's teaching me the fine art of the forensic autopsy.

"Found something." Ducky said. He lined up the portrait shots of the Liptak family. He tapped on Mary's face.

Abby lifted the photo and studied it. "How did Tony and Ziva miss it?"

"Miss what?" McGee squinted at the photo.

"Look at Liptak." She lifted it for him to see. "What color are his eyes?"

"Blue."

"And what color are his wife's eyes?"

"Big baby blues. So what?"

"Now look at Mary's."

"Brown." She paused and waited for realization to hit him. It didn't. And least not fast enough. "You didn't do so well in genetics, did you Timmy?"

"Two blue eyed parents can't have a brown eyed child. It's genetically impossible." Ducky said.

"She could have been adopted." McGee offered.

"Not according to the birth certificate." Abby countered.

"Sometimes those are fudged, you know. Rewritten with the adoptive parent's names in place."

"I know that Timmy. That's why we're going to called the delivery doctor and ask if Meg Liptak did indeed give birth to a bouncing baby girl."

x Thanks for reading! And thanks to all who have left a review. So let me know what you think, Please! Thanks. Jeanne 


	4. Chapter 4

Okay. So first off this is what happens when you write a zillion drafts like I do. I have a little Burke/Buckly discrepancy between chapter 2 and 3. Sorry. I've always caught that stuff. With out spoiling anything, the next coming chapters are more upbeat. Thanks to all who read and all those who read and review. EnjoyJeanne 

FOUR

"You both look so happy." Meg Liptak lifted a photo of their 'wedding' from the end table. "Your husband's quite the looker and you look gorgeous. That dress is like Maria's out of _Sound of Music. _

"We were." Ziva replied. She looked at the picture Abby had photoshopped of the two of them smiling at each other on the steps of the cathedral. To her their smiles looked like lies.

Meg set the photo back and hitched at her orange tube top. "Did you have a big wedding? I always wanted a big white wedding. But I was pregnant when we got married. It was all rush, rush, rush."

Ziva tucked her feet under herself and cradled her cup of tea in both hands. "No. It was quite small. Happens when you arrange a transatlantic wedding. I'm from Spain." She said, anticipating Meg's next question.

"Is that why you wear your wedding band on you right hand?"

"Yes. You get your wedding ring on your left hand when you're engaged and move it over to your right when you get married."

"Bummer. No diamond."

"I'm not a fan."

"Which is just one of the many reasons I love you." Tony said as he came in the front door.

He kissed her lightly on the lips. To his surprise she reciprocated, sucking his bottom lip as he pulled back. She released it with a gentle nip. "I missed you dear."

"Have a good day?"

"I did." She said. "Meg this is my husband, Tony, this is Meg."

Meg smiled at Tony. She sized him up, making no attempt to hide the lingering gaze she bestowed on his groin. "Sara's told me a lot about you." Her glossy lips curved into a Cheshire cat smile. "You're more handsome in person."

His laugh caught uncomfortably in his throat. "Thanks. I think."

"You're welcome." She ran her hands threw her sun-bleached hair. "Mary's sleeping at a friend's house tonight." She said with a wink. "I'm going home to take advantage. Thanks for the tea Sara."

"Sure." Ziva said with a smile. "We'll have to do this again."

The door clicked shut behind her and Tony waited until she'd gone into her own house. "Did you play nice with your new friend?"

"I didn't shoot her like I wanted to if that's what you're asking."

"Good girl Mrs. Steele."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Forget I said that dear. So you told her a lot about me?"

"Just enough to feed her imagination."

"You two talk size?"

"No."

"C'mon. Spill it. I want to hear all about your girlie chat."

"I told her you leave the toilet seat up, you drink from the carton, you're flatulent, jealous and juvenile and you leave hair in the drain."

He ran his hand through his hair. "I do not leave hair in the drain."

"Okay. That part I made up."

"Hmmp." He grunted. He disappeared into the bedroom and came back with a pair of her strappy sandals. He dangled them at her. "Let's start over. C'mon. Get dressed. We're going out to dinner."

X

He stood on the wet sand, the cool October water of the Gulf washing over his feet. He was worried about her he admitted. As of late she was tired and achy and dizzy. She hardly ate. His mind flashed briefly to _pregnant_ and he dismissed the thought as soon as it came. Pregnant woman got hormonal. They got mood swings. They threw up. Their stomachs stuck out like beach balls. And to hear McGee brag about it, they became sex crazed. Ziva didn't fit the bill.

He watched her now as she waded in the water, the gentle waves lapping at the hem of her dress. She turned to him, silhouetted by the setting sun that glowed gold and purple off of the water. She wore her hair loose over her bare shoulders. He felt like Adam catching his first glimpse of Eve in the Garden of Eden.

"You look happy." He said.

She waded out and stood by the water's edge with him. "I am."

"That because of the new boyfriend?"

"No." She said. She snaked her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Ziva."

"Sh. The sun flashes green the second it hits the horizon. Watch."

They waited in silence at the edge of the ocean. She gasped as the green glint flashed off the water.

"Beautiful." He said.

She gasped again pitched forward. He caught he as she fell, crushing her to his chest. "Whoa. You okay?"

"Uh huh." He felt her take a deep breath as she straightened. "Fine."

He refused to give up his grip on her as he steered her across the beach to the car. "You're anything but. First thing tomorrow morning sweet cheeks we're going to the doctor."

She didn't answer. She looked shaky as he piled her into the car. He reached across her to buckle her in.

He barely heard her whisper. "I loved you, you know."

"I know. I did too."

X

They stood at the foot of the bed facing the plasma screen: the picture evenly divided between Gibbs and Calloway on one side and McGee and Ducky on the other.

Gibbs sipped from his ever present coffee cup. "Tell me you have something."

"According to Mrs. Liptak she did indeed give birth to Mary. She's into details. Lots of…unpleasant details." Ziva began.

"Which I am double checking Boss, but it's Saturday and the doctor's gone into private practice. We're going to have to wait until he comes back." McGee said.

Ziva continued. "I ran down Swift's last day. She talked to a guy fitting Marrner's description and the two of them went off together. A few hours later they were both dead."

"If Swift's mystery man is Marner then the murders are definitely linked. Liptak killed them to keep them quiet. The question is quiet about what?" Calloway mused.

Ducky broke in: "Dr. Buckley ought to be jailed for idiocy. I have a handle full of photos and a bogus autopsy report to go on for Swift: But as for Marner. I have good news. Houdini."

"Ducky." Gibbs prodded.

"Houdini died of a ruptured appendix as a result of a severe blow to the stomach."

"So you're telling us Marner died of a busted appendix?" Calloway asked.

"I can't say for certain without the proper autopsy, all I can tell you is most likely he died of internal bleeding as a result of several blows to the abdomen."

"Good work." Gibbs said and disconnected.

"Boys. Can I have second to talk water retention with Ziva?" Abby asked.

They were alone before they knew it.

"Water retention Abby?"

"Just in case some one who shall remain nameless is tempted to listen in."

"It seems to have done the trick. Tony's in the shower."

"Yeah. I think McGee's gone to hide in autopsy. Hey, if you want to see him try not to throw up in his mouth when you get back, tell me and I'll show him my belly button."

"Men."

Abby nodded in agreement. "Can I ask you something?"

"Something wrong Abby?"

"No. Not really. I just had to ask. If you got married, would you change your last name?"

"Depends on the name."

"McGee?" She said tentatively. "Abby McGee? It just doesn't sound right."

"Have you thought about hyphenating it? That seems to be popular here."

"Sciuto-McGee? I think it sounds like a syndrome. _'I'm very sorry to inform you, but you have Sciuto-McGee syndrome. The prognosis is negative.'_

"You're right. Maybe you should ask McGee how he feels about changing his?"

"Good point."

"Abby, about last week. I never said thank you."

"Oh, you did. But you were grooving on the Valium so you probably don't remember. I'm accepting all payment in forms of diaper changing and midnight feedings." She pulled a chair and sat. "How are you doing?"

"Okay. Tony wants to bring me to the doctor tomorrow."

"Well that's no good."

"I know Abby. I'll think of a way out of it."

Abby turned her attention to the lab doors. "Gotta go. McGee's working up the courage to come hear us talk girl." Abby severed the connection and the room plunged into darkness.

Ziva looked at the bedside clock. It was just after 4 am in Tel Aviv. She'd be up.

The voice on the other end of the line was still velvety despite her age. "Hello?"

She paused suddenly mute.

"Ziva?"

"Mom." She breathed, her sob stuck in her throat. "I need help."

x so let me know what you think. As always I really do appreciate reviews. Thanks for reading. Jeanne 


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE  
This explains why we weren't able to find him earlier." Calloway said. "Cripes. It's déjà vu all over again. I'd like to know who the hell I pissed off."

"I'd rather know who he pissed off." Gibbs nodded at the lifeless body of Calloway's former teammate, Jamie Lutz. He floated face up, his unseeing eyes foggy. "He the only other guy working the case besides you?"

"Yep," she said. "Well. The bonus is we're shipping him directly to Dr. Mallard." She pulled her sketchpad from her backpack and began to draw the scene "This isn't so bad. It's October. Bodies get super stinky down here in the summer."

Gibbs phone rang. He snapped it open. "Yeah McGee."

"We tracked down the doctor who delivered Mary Liptak. She's Meg's biological daughter alright."

He hung up on McGee mid sentence and turned to Calloway.

"I heard." She said. "I wonder if Liptak had any idea Mary might not be his."

"I'd be tempted to kill over that."

She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe he did."

X

Tony put the Jeep in neutral and pulled up the emergency brake. "I've entered the twilight zone."

"Why do you say that?" Ziva jumped down lightly from the Jeep.

"Because I'm at a neighborhood potluck accompanied by a super spy bearing a crock pot full of tiny little meatballs."

"I thought the term was pot yuck." She said as she retrieved a white crockpot from the wheel well. "And you told me meatballs was the thing to bring."

"Pot Yuck's probably more accurate. And yes. They are." He laughed. "Ziva-"

"Sara." She said. The buzz of conversation grew louder as they walked up the driveway.

"You still need to see the doctor." He placed his hand on the small of her back.

"I made an appointment."

"When?"

"Why? You going to come with me?"

"If that's what it takes."

"Sara!" Meg's voice boomed from the front stoop. "Hi! I'm so glad you came! Come on in. Everything's in full tilt." She reached out for the crock pot. "I'll take that for you." She peered through the moisture dotted plastic lid. "Yum. Meatballs."

Tony grinned at Ziva. _I told you so._

Meg flashed him a mega watt smile. "The men are out back. The beer's cold and the grill's hot."

_Sounds like the start to a Darwin Award. "_Thanks." He said.

He kissed Ziva lightly. "Let me know if you don't feel well. We'll go."

She nodded yes.

"C'mon, all us women are having margaritas in the living room." Meg said. "This way." She paused at the kitchen table to set down the crock pot before passing through to the living room. The women sat huddled around the coffee table, margaritas in hand. "Every one, this is Sara." Meg said. "Sara this is Janie-it's her house-Brigitte, her daughter Bella, Lori and Marissa."

Ziva sank into an overstuffed armchair. "Nice to meet you."

Bella, a cherubic blond looked up from her mother's lap. "Have you seen Mr. Whiskers?"

"A cat." Her mom. "Old grey cat. You can't miss him. He's got one eye, he's missing a leg and his teeth. He dribbles pee everywhere but Bella loves him."

"Mom says he might have run away to a farm." Bella concluded.

"I'll keep my eyes open." _I wonder if 'run away to a farm' is a euphemism for dead._

Janie raised a pitcher. "Margarita?"

"Water will be fine, thanks."

"I'll take that." Meg snatched at the pitcher and poured herself a glass. "Marissa and her husband just transferred here too a week ago. They're newlyweds."

Marissa looked like she couldn't have been more than eighteen. "We're down from Little Creek. What about you?"

"We were stationed in Rota." Ziva said.

Janie handed her a margarita glass filled with water. "Is that where you met?"

"Yes. Well, actually it was a topless beach in Cadiz"_ I'll have to remember to tell Tony. He'll get a kick out of it._

"Got kids?" Marissa asked. "I love kids. I can't wait to have them."

Ziva swirled her glass and let the ice clink against the sides. "I'm not sure I want any. Tony definitely doesn't."

Meg knocked back the last of her margarita. "Don't rush it. I love Mary but man. Babies do a number on your sex life. They're just not happy unless they're excreting something. And they cry at the wrong time. Some how though, that's only ever a problem for the wife."

All the women nodded in agreement.

Undeterred Marissa asked. "What about you Meg? What's your story?" Ziva mentally thanked her for asking all the girlie gossip questions that quite often led to good intel.

"It was just after high school. I was a waitress at a little Inn on the coast in Maine. He was the groundskeeper. And the rest as they say, is history."

X

Liptak was roughly the same size and shape as a refrigerator and could probably hold as much beer. He had worked his way through one six pack. He had yet to start slurring but his lips were definitely loose. Tony let him talk. In his experience guys like Liptak gave away the best information purely by accident. "What do you think of my wife?"

"Nice girl." Tony said.

Liptak crushed his empty beer can. "Ever go near her and it'll be the last thing you do."

"We're even then because I feel the same way about my wife." _Except she'll be the one to do you in._

Liptak snorted a laugh and clapped Tony on the back hard enough to rattle his teeth. "I think we're going to get along just fine, Newbie." He cracked open another beer. "It's been the week from hell. Lost my best friend and the damn navy cops are up my ass about it."

"Man those guys really piss me off. I tangled with them a while ago." Tony took a small sip from his beer. It always paid to be the more sober than your suspect.

"Yeah?"

"Sara had an affair. I went looking for the guy."

"I wouldn't' have thought if of her. She looks more like a cold fish." Liptak drained the can, crushed it, and started another.

Tony felt Ziva's hand on his shoulder. "Babe? I'm not feeling well, can we go home?"

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in tight, supporting her weight against his body. "Okay."

He held the Jeep door open as she hopped up onto the seat. "You feeling dizzy again?"

"I lied about being sick. I have to get out of here."

He got in and turned the engine over. "I can live with that."

"Tony." Her fingertips played softly against his neck. He felt a familiar tingle shoot its way down his spine. Her hand cupped the back of his head as she pulled his face to hers. She kissed him, her tongue delving deep into his mouth. Instinctively his hand went to the back of her head as he deepened the kiss.

She licked her lips as they broke apart. "So I'm a cold fish am I?"

He shifted into gear and took off. "With me yes. But maybe your boyfriend has better luck."

"What?"

"Your boyfriend? What's his face the cop?"

"Hale?" She wrinkled her nose. "It's been over for weeks. Don't you pay attention?"

"What's the matter? Did you give him the same ultimatum?" As soon as he said it he regretted the bitterness in his voice

"What ultimatum?"

"The 'Let's get married now or move on,' that's a big step from 'one day at a time.' "

"I never said that. You said you-" She rubbed her hands briskly over her face. "I'm sorry. It was all a misunderstanding."

He pushed the gas pedal to the floor.

"Don't you have something to say?" She prodded. "Like, "I'm sorry too Ziva."

His hand moved from the gearshift to her upper thigh. "How about 'I want sex. Now. A lot of it."

"


	6. Chapter 6

A/N To make a long story short. Chapter 5 should have had a note saying that A) I've had a little light bulb moment. Which means that I have a different ending from the one I originally intended. Which in turn means that I'm not going to be able to update daily but I should be able to update fairly quickly. It's much more fun for the reader as well as the author I think when the updates are frequent.

And B) Chapter 5 was the last T rated Chapter. But since I wanted people to be able to find this chapter I've left it under T. For those of you wishing to skip the "M" part of this chapter, just don't read between the first set of X's. The next chapter will be M so I suggest you use the story alert feature if you don't already, or just remember to set your browser to all when you check back.

Thanks to all of you who read and especially to those who read and review! Jeanne

X

"You're not going to make me beg for it are you?" Tony pleaded.

Ziva stood, arms crossed, back pressed against their closed bedroom door. "I've never."

He glared at her and she returned his gaze with equal fury. "Okay. So I have. Once."

"That's more like it."

"I'm about to make it twice."

"I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry about all the things I said."

"Go on."

"I'm sorry I said your cooking was lousy. I'm sorry I said you're a cold-hearted commitment phobic ice queen. I'm sorry I said your butt looked big."

He leaned in to kiss her and she placed her index finger across his lips.

"And?"

"I'm sorry I said you sound like a chimpanzee when you come." He mumbled.

"Good enough." She said, pulling him backwards through the door.

"Hey! What about you? You almost took my head off with that waffle maker. And all those things you said to me? I'd make you apologize for each and every one but I couldn't understand a word you said."

"I'm about to make it up to you. Right now." She pushed him against the edge of the bed. "Sit." He did.

She fisted her hands in his hair and kissed him. Her tongue battled his as his hands slipped under the hem of her dress. He danced his fingers up the backs of her legs. Ziva broke off. "Be patient."

She stood back and pulled the tie on her dress. It fell to the floor with a soft whoosh.

She reached behind herself and undid her bra. Her breasts were fuller than he remembered: they begged to be touched. He reached out to knead them greedily and she grabbed his hands and guided him to her waist. He hooked his fingers into the waistband of her panties and tugged them free of her body.

A silvery scar about five inches long ran horizontally just above her pubic bone. He kissed it and her felt her knees sag. He looked up at her. Her eyes were damp. He thought for a moment that she might cry but she blinked and returned his gaze with fiery intensity.

She wrenched his shirt over his head. She kissed him again, straddling him as she pushed him down on the bed.

"You're forgetting something." He said, grinding his pelvis into hers. "Jeans."

She nipped his earlobe. "You're not wearing underwear."

"I never do."

"I know." She kissed and sucked at his collarbone. "What you're going to want to do." She traced the outlines of her brand with her finger. "As soon as it comes out." Her fingers stroked him lightly through the fabric of his jeans. She undid the snap and flicked the tip of her tongue against the exposed skin. "The jeans stay on."

"Ziva." He cupped her bottom, before sliding his hands around to her inner thighs. "Enough. Please."

She grinned and pulled his jeans free of his body. "Whoa." Her eyes flashed concern.

"What?"

"That's just not going to fit."

He looked at himself, swollen by the weeks of waiting. "Is that a no?"

"Yes. I mean no. Don't move." She descended slowly, finding her depth, her movements short and quick. Her muscles seized him fiercely as she rocked. Her eyes lulled shut as her scream pierced the night air.

Not losing her rhythm she looked down at him with a grin. She lifted his hand to her mouth and one by one began to suck his fingers.

His breathing was ragged. "No. Don't. Not yet."

He groaned as she grazed the tip of his finger with her teeth. "Ziva," he gasped as he flooded her with his release.

"I hate it when you do that." He said, looking up at the ceiling.

"I was getting a cramp." Still engaged, she looked down at him. He didn't pick up his head. When he slipped from her body she rolled onto her side next to him. She nudged him. "Tony."

"Wha?" he said sleepily.

She tugged the comforter over them and lay down. "I see we're going to pick up where we left off."

X

_I've been used, in the best possible way._ Tony smiled into the mattress, the scent of their lovemaking still thick. As much as Ziva could ever belong to or with anyone, she was his again. _Or I'm hers_.

He reached out for her in the darkness only to find her gone. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. The bedside clock read 10 pm. He tossed the blankets in a heap and pulled on his jeans, noting with some satisfaction that he was quite sore. She'd been much tighter and much faster than he'd remembered.

He found Ziva in the living room, feet stretched over the coffee table. She held her book in one hand, spoon loaded with chocolate ice cream in the other. A half eaten pint container rested beside on the coffee table

"Ziva?"

She set her book down. "I'll make you dinner." She said, licking the spoon.

"I'm not hungry. Thanks." He sat beside her.

"Suit yourself."

"You're feeling better I take it."

"Much." She grabbed the pint, hollowed out another bite and held it out for him. He accepted. "So." She said as his mouth closed around it. "Tell me who you slept with while we were apart."

He nearly choked on the icy glob.

"Unless we both want to pretend like it never happened." She offered. "I could go either way."

He hesitated. "No. I want to know." _I think._ "Gina. Once."

"From down the hall?" She scooped out another bite.

"Yes. And it didn't work out so well. I think I might need to move."

She smirked at him. "I thought you knew better than to date women who lived on the same floor as you."

"I do now."

"And who else?"

"Carolyn."

"From the coffee shop down the street?" Her head tipped back and she let out a full-throated laugh. "You must have been desperate."

"Speaking of desperate." He prodded.

"Who me? Hale." She said. "The cop."

"And who else?"

"Just Hale." She winced. " A couple of times."

"You regret it." He said. "I'm surprised."

_You have no idea._ "What about you?" She asked. "Regret sleeping with the baggy bunnies?"

He grabbed her spoon and container and shoveled a copious amount of ice cream into his mouth.

"It was bad, wasn't it?" She laughed again at his obvious discomfort.

"Nut uh." He mumbled, shaking his head. He swallowed. "It just wasn't good. You?"

"It was bad." She said. "Wrong hole means _wrong damn hole_."

It was his turn to laugh. It felt good to laugh with her and clear away the past. He leaned forward and kissed her. "I missed you."

"Me too."

He set the empty container and spoon on the coffee table. "You said something about dinner?"

She got up from the sofa. "I can heat up leftover lasagna. I don't have anything else. I have to go grocery shop- Swift had a hysterectomy."

"Nice non sequitor."

"No." She turned to him. "If she had a hysterectomy. Why did she go out after she talked to Marner and buy tampons?"

"For something girlie. I don't know. You've got the estrogen."

"When I was sixteen I used to hide condoms in tampon boxes under the sink in the bathroom. My father had a habit of invasion of privacy but he never looked there. It's as safe as a safe, if you're hiding stuff from a man."

"You think she's hiding what ever Marner had on Liptak in a box of tampons under the bathroom sink?"

"It's worth a look."

A crash and a yowl sounded from just outside the kitchen window. Their heads swiveled in unison.

"I think it's Mr. Whiskers." Tony said.

Ziva kissed him hard and quick. "You go chase the incontinent cat. I'll call Gibbs."

Tony let himself out the front door. A streak of grey whipped around the corner of the house. If it was indeed the three-legged pee-dribbling beast, it was moving fast. The blurry blob scrambled its way up the palm tree in the back yard. "Here Mr. Whiskers," he called. "C'mon kitty kitty. Be a nice kitty and come down."

It half fell half jumped into his outstretched arms. "Gotcha. Now don't pee." He turned to hurry into the house before the stinky fur ball could drench him and halted in his tracks. Through a two-inch gap in the curtain in their bedroom window, Ziva's form moved back and forth. He crept forward, his feet unable to obey the _Stop_ order from his brain.

He clutched Mr. Whiskers as he peered through the window. Ziva stood sideways in front of their full-length mirror appraising her reflection. Shoulders back, she let her robe fall into a puddle of brown silk on the floor. In an all too familiar Abby-like movement, she placed her hands on her lower back and arched backwards distending her stomach. Her mouth pursed in dissatisfaction.

He felt bile rise in his throat and he forced it back. He tightened his grip on the cat and it let out a howl and a stream of liquid. "She's-"

The cold steel of a pistol bit into the small of his back.

"Pregnant? Yes I know. Now walk, very slowly, into the house."

X

As always let me know what you think. I appreciate it. Thanks! Jeanne


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Alrighty. I have nothing witty to say for my disclaimer so I'm just going to leave it at, I do not own NCIS. Dang. Oh, and I might have a wee bit of explaining to do but so as not to spoil anything I've placed it at the very end of the chapter. Also, most of this story is T rated. But since I do enjoy including a good tiva sex scene now and then it's M, but that's the only reason why. I must say, sorry to be slow. But this is that light bulb moment I was talking about. Here you go. Enjoy. Jeanne

X

The world was black.

_Ziva. _

He felt the sofa cushions sink under his weight as a set of strong hands lay him down.

_Is. _

He smelled cat pee as the hands slid his shirt over his head. The hands removed his pants and slid on a pair of boxers.

_Pregnant._

Voices buzzed in the background. Low. Hushed. Angry. Fighting.

_Don't hurt her. Don't hurt her baby. _

"Unh." He grunted. The mute darkness swam into blurry reality. Ziva's face surfaced. Her head didn't seem to be attached to her body. He blinked, trying to focus. Her face wouldn't hold still. It shifted from left to right. "Ziva, there are two of you."

"Not exactly," said the Ziva on left. "Just how hard did you hit him?"

"Apparently harder than I thought." Said the Ziva on the right.

The Ziva on the right looked a little off. Her liquid brown eyes crinkled at the corners as she stared at him. A thin C shaped scar connected the edge of her nose and her mouth. She noticed him staring and she traced the arc of it with her finger. She smiled and the corner of her lip did not turn up. "Tony DiNozzo. My daughter always did have good taste."

"Mrs. David?" he choked.

"Ms. Chevral." She said. "But please. Call me Sarah."

"Sarah." He sat up. "What were you doing in the bushes?"

"I saw you run around the back of the house. Forgive me, if I assumed the worst."

He rubbed the back of his head, the clogging elephant in snowshoes dancing in his skull slowly faded into the background. "Let me rephrase that. You're not here just to visit, now are you?"

"Unfortunately no." Sarah pulled a memory card from her bag. "Anyway to take a look at this?"

"The plasma in our bedroom." Ziva said.

He pulled Ziva aside as Sarah swung down the short hall ahead of them. "Please tell me you're the one who undressed me."

"If it makes you feel better she had her eyes closed." Ziva said.

"Hmp."

"What?"

"I can't decided if that's good kinky or bad kinky."

"Good kinky, I think."

In their bedroom Sarah Chevral gestured to the photo on the screen. Two middle aged men marched side by side through the maze like street of a congested souq. "This was taken two weeks ago Khan El Khalili, Cairo." She pointed at them. "Giles St. Aubin and Gavin Gaffnee. They're wanted in the intelligence circuit by a dozen countries the world over, including yours and ours. But I'm more interested in her."

Her finger emphatically stabbed the woman who walked a few paces behind St. Aubin. An amorphous cloud of black robes, her face was twisted away from the camera and partially obscured by her veil.

Sarah's face was solemn. "We've been on the look out ever since…"

Ziva's eyes locked on the woman's face. Her mother's words sounded hollow and far away as the past tumbled into the present. _Go ahead and say it mother. Ever since my sister in law, former best friend, confidant, shot me? Ever since she made me lose my child?_

"….it… happened." Sarah said. "Then four days ago she showed up in Granada." She changed the picture. A woman sat at a small café table, her face partially obscured by large sunglasses. She smiled at her companion, cup of coffee half way to her mouth.

Sarah turned to them both, her voice stony. "Hannah Haswari is back from the dead."

"Maybe you made a mistake? We should have Abby run facial recognition software on her to be sure." Ziva said. She hoped she didn't sound as frantic as she felt.

"Did it." Sarah squeezed her daughter's hand briefly before letting it drop. "It is. She's traveling under the name Gila Khoury. She boarded a private jet that took off from Algiers thirty-six hours ago. Hannah has a long memory. She's patient and cold-blooded and she hates you. If I were her…"

"You'd kill me." Ziva finished the thought.

Sarah switched into Hebrew. "Make it public you're pregnant. Word will get back to her soon enough. She won't be able to resist. This time we'll be waiting and we'll get her."

Ziva nodded yes. _This time. I will. I'll turn her into so many pieces no one will ever be able to make her whole again._

"No." Tony said. "The baby stays out of this."

"I thought you didn't speak Hebrew. I'm impressed." Sarah smiled her half-smile at him.

"I don't but I know that look on her face. She's not going to be bait for a mad woman. Not now."

"Would you prefer to wait until after the baby's born? Think that's going to be any safer?" Sarah said angrily.

"There's got to be another way." _Now I see where Ziva gets it_. "Send someone to track her down. Isn't that what you do?"

Sarah stiffened. "It's what_ I_ do."

"Ziva." He said. "Tell me you aren't stupid enough to go looking for revenge."

"This is not about revenge."

The steely glint in her eyes betrayed her. "Like hell it's not."

"I'll let you two talk it over." Sarah walked towards the door.

"I'll get you some blankets." Ziva said. "You can sleep on the sofa."

Sarah paused, her hand on the doorjamb. She turned to them. "No need. I won't be sleeping tonight. Evil doesn't die. It just changes shape."

X

Tony stifled a yawn. It was now shortly after one a.m. They'd fought until he was hoarse and had no choice but to concede. Ziva would always do what she thought right. He could either watch her or help her. And this time she was going to need all the help she could get.

Ziva yawned and pulled her nightgown over her head. "My mother likes you." She said, her voice scratchy from the 'discussion.'

He pulled on his pajama bottoms. "Because she didn't kill me?"

She shook her head no. "Because I love you and she trusts me."

"So you love me." He'd meant the statement to sound teasing. But instead it sounded like an accusation.

"Some days I can't think of why but I do." She slipped under the covers and rolled onto her side, facing him as he joined her in bed "It's French by the way. Everyone always asks."

"What is?"

"Chevral. Mother's last name. Her father was French. Catholic actually. Converted when he met my grandmother."

"That's not what you want to talk about is it?"

"No. But if we start talking about Hannah again I'm going to deck you and you might not wake up so soon."

He pulled her closer. "I'm worried too." _Scared shitless actually but it's going to be a cold day in hell before I tell you that._

She pushed her body into his and laid her head on his shoulder. Her hand slipped beneath the waistband of his boxers and she groaned in disappointment. "I can fix this for you. It seems to be broken."

He felt her frustration as the warmth of her touch failed to have its usual effect on him. "Is this because my mother's in the next room? I can be quiet. I do have a lot of practice being quiet while mom and dad are in the next room." She kissed his neck just behind his ear.

"Stop Ziva." He pulled away and sat up. She looked utterly wounded but he continued. "When were you going to tell me you're pregnant?"

She rolled away from him. "Soon. I just hadn't thought of how."

"You say, 'Tony I'm pregnant' is how. Or is there a reason you didn't want to tell me?"

She drew her knees up to her chest. "It's not what you think."

"And what is it that I think?" Anger flooded his voice.

She wrapped her arms around her knees. Her voice was flat, emotionless, "That I'm not going to go through with it. I am."

"That wasn't what I was thinking sweet cheeks. Whose is it?"

Silence.

He grabbed his pillow and blanket from the foot of the bed "I guess that's my answer."

In the living room Sarah peered through the curtains, gun in hand, silently keeping watch as her daughter slept. She nodded at the sofa. "Don't worry. I'm not going to shoot you in your sleep."

_Fantastic. Great. Thanks. I hadn't thought of that until now. _"Okay." He lay down, his feet hanging over the arm. The sofa seemed harder than he remembered. He tossed and turned and forced himself not to watch the clock as the hours ticked by.

In the predawn he crept back into their room. He shook her shoulder gently. The barrel of her Sig made contact with the space between his eyes before he could remove his hand. _Great DiNozzo. When are you going to learn? Call her name first._ "Ziva?"

"What!?" The word sliced through him.

"I have to talk to you."

"Can it wait?" She returned the gun to under her pillow. "It's getting light out and I just fell asleep."

"No. Ziva. It can't."

She flicked on the bedside lamp. Her eyes were cold as she glared at him.

"The baby." He said as he sat on the edge of the bed. "It doesn't matter whose it is, I love you and I still want to stay together if you do."

She smiled and he thought she'd never looked more beautiful. "That's all I wanted to know." He felt her shake as she kissed him, slowly twining her tongue around his.

He broke off. "I can't say I don't wish it were mine."

She laughed low in her throat. "Who said it wasn't?"

X

I wasn't fibbing when I said you don't need to have read or remember either 'Pack Your Gear' or "Beyond' because I'll make the long story short. Hannah Haswari. I sorta kinda made her up but not quite. If you haven't seen Kill Ari pt 1 this is a bit spoilery-The woman that Ziva's swimming with in the pool? Well, in this particular world I've created she's Ari's wife. And she's a bad, bad, bad woman. She kidnaps Ziva and Tony. Shoots Ziva. (who happened to be pregnant) and is apparently killed herself although her body never is found.

Cripes! Someone pass out the chocolate and the popcorn. I've got a 'NCIS the Soap Opera' going on here.

As always. I really do appreciate reviews. Thank You for reading and Thank You Thank you to those who read and review. Jeanne


	8. Chapter 8

So what can I say? I'm not going to keep this as M. After this chapter I'm going to post this as T because other than one well-marked love scene, it is. Sorry. Mea culpa mea culpa mea maxima culpa. Last time I go changing that around on you all. Thanks. Jeanne

X

Ziva ripped back the shower curtain as the bathroom door opened with a creak. Tony shuffled in. He sat down on the toilet and hung his head between his knees.

"You're not going to throw up on me again, are you?" She asked.

He groaned and licked the drool from his lips. "It couldn't be helped. I went from thinking you had some weird disease to thinking you got knocked up by some lousy boyfriend to finding out I am going to be a father. I'm sorry if it made me a little nauseas."

Ziva grabbed the shower wand to wash the last stubborn chunks of Tony's stomach contents from her hair. "You thought Hale was the father?"

He focused on the floor. The linoleum was cracking and moldy. "How was I supposed to know? You said you regretted sleeping with him. You didn't answer when I asked whose it was." Another bought of nausea hit him as he tried to straighten. He groaned and hung his head between his knees.

She returned the nozzle to the wall and grabbed the shampoo bottle. She squeezed her eyes shut as she worked it in. "Tony. If it were anyone else's, there wouldn't be any baby to speak of right now."

"I know." He said, grateful to not have to make eye contact with her. "How did it happen?"

She rinsed her hair out and soaped up again. Another round with the shampoo wasn't going to hurt. "You want the sperm meets ova lecture?"

He wiped his mouth. "No. I mean. I thought you couldn't get pregnant. And they stuck an IUD in you after-after the last time it didn't work out."

She reached for the conditioner and worked it through her hair before answering. "It came out."

The pause drew his attention. He lifted his head, slowly. He watched as the warm spray blasted flecks of foam from her body. "How far along are you?"

"Fifteen weeks." She said. "I found out a week after we broke up."

He pulled the shower curtain back. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I could have held your hair out of the toilet while you barfed."

She smiled at him. She leaned forward to kiss him. "You going to join me in here?"

"I will when I can stand." He took a deep breath. "How have you been?"

"Dizzy. Tired. But not as much throwing up as I expected. I had a little scare last week and Abby had to rush me to the hospital. They thought it was ectopic but it wasn't."

"I wish you'd told me."

She closed her eyes and stuck her face in the stream and he couldn't read her expression.

"Do you know what is it?" he asked.

"It's a baby Tony."

"I mean. Boy or girl. Do you know?"

She blinked the water out of her eyes. "Not until the do the sixteen sonogram. If I want to find out, if we want to find out."

"I think I do." He said.

"Me too."

"A couple more months and we'll have a little DiNozzo."

She snorted and reached for the body wash.

"So. DiNozzo-David?"

She worked the lather over her legs as she growled at him. "David-DiNozzo?"

"_Tony_." She reached for the razor.

"Just plain David then? Does this mean you're keeping your name?"

"What?" She straightened and glared at him and he wondered if he was about to meet his demise via pink safety razor.

"I just thought. You're pregnant. You probably want to get married." He licked his lips again. The drool didn't seem to be stopping.

"Are you asking me to marry you? Now? While I'm shaving my legs?"

"No. I'm asking if I should ask you."

"No." She said, drawing the razor up her leg. "But I'll make you a deal. They can have your last name if I can pick the first."

"Deal." He said. "Just make sure I can pronounce it."

Ziva laughed, the sound clear and lively. "Okay."

He stood and shed his pajama bottoms and tossed them into the corner. "I'm really feeling a lot better."

She scooted closer to the front of the tub as he stepped in. "I can see that."

His hand slid down to caress her abdomen as he kissed her.

_My baby. Our baby. We are in such big trouble. Good God. I know nothing, nothing about kids. And Ziva's not exactly maternal._

She looked up at him, blinking the water out of her eyes. "Happy?"

"Yeah. Actually I am. Mostly."

"Good." She slid his hand around to the small of her back and pulled him under the spray.

X

_Cripes. Give me a decomp any day. I hate this part. _Calloway pushed a box of Kleenex across the coffee table to Douglass Swift. "Sorry to have to put you through this again Doug."

Swift gave his nose a resounding honk and deposited the Kleenex on the coffee table in a pile. Calloway felt a little shiver at the base of her spine. Something about mucus moistened tissue made her skin crawl.

"She called me just before she died. Said she'd made a reservation at a little bed and breakfast in Maine. We've been having some hard times lately-had been having. She was always working. Work first. Husband later. She didn't want kids. I did. I'd like to think she was going there to change her mind. But part of me thinks the trip was supposed to be the last hurrah. I miss her though. I love her. Loved her." He blew his nose again and deposited the tissue into the ever- growing pile. She averted her eyes. "What was it you wanted?" he asked.

"Just to hear your side of the story." Gibbs said. "You said that your home was broken into?"

Swift sniffled. "Yes. Agent Calloway seemed to believe me."

Calloway nodded. "I know. But with nothing missing and no obvious sign of forced entry, I had nothing to go on."

"I thought of something. I went to look for it the other day when I went to pay the bills…anyways. Her cell phone is missing."

"Could she have misplaced it?" Gibbs asked.

"No. She's a very careful woman."

Gibbs believed him. The Swift's residence looked like a magazine cover shot. "Any ideas where it might be?"

"None. I've looked everywhere." Swift glanced at the clock. "It's getting late and I have to be getting ready for work. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Gibbs and Calloway looked at each other. "Nothing." She said. "Oh, would you mind if I used your bathroom?"

"Go ahead. It's just down the hall on the left." He grabbed another Kleenex and Calloway stepped double-time to the bathroom.

She snapped on rubber gloves before pulling open the cabinet door under the sink. "Sorry Delphine. Can't get any privacy even when you're dead."

Behind the mud masks and liter shampoo bottles and toilet cleaner, there it was, a neatly resealed tampon box. She opened it gingerly._ I_ c_an't believe I'm doing this. Whoa. Wasn't expecting that_. Delphine's cell phone slid out in her hand with a soft thud. She pocketed it, flushed the toilet and ran the water in the sink.

Back in the car she displayed her findings to Gibbs. "I don't think she would have stored it there if there wasn't something important on it. Maybe we should go through her call history."

Gibbs turned the engine over and pulled away from the curb. "Start with videos.

"Stand by." She said as she fiddled with the buttons. "Technology and I are not friends-oh my goodness." Calloway held the tiny screen into his field of vision. "She must have known there was danger and recorded him."

Gibbs squinted. The recording was slightly choppy. Shawn Marner rode in the passenger seat of a car as he recorded himself. The highway sped by in the background, horn blasts and engine noise peppered the recording. Sweat beaded his forehead as he spoke. "My name is Shawn Marner. I have a confession to make. James Liptak murdered Erich Weiss and I helped. I have proof. It's behind the picture of HONK!!"

The blare of a car horn cut off his statement.

"Dang!" Calloway said. She pressed play again, and still the end of Marner's statement was obscured. She closed the phone and slid it into an evidence bag. "I think this looks a like a job for your Super Abby."

X

Once again. Thanks to all who read and all who read and review. I really do appreciate it! Let me know what you think! Jeanne


	9. Chapter 9

Once again, for those whose reading experience isn't complete without the disclaimer, it's in the first chapter. Also, since I'm familiar with southern Florida but not the area I've set this story let's chalk up any geographical booboos to artistic license, shall we? Thanks. Jeanne

X

"_My name is Shawn Marner. I have a confession to make. James Liptak murdered Erich Weiss and I helped. I have proof. It's behind the picture of..."_

"C'mon buddy. Quit turning your head and let me read your lips. Behind a picture of what?" Abby replayed the recording.

The doors to the lab opened with a whoosh. "Where's my sandwich McGee?"

"McGee's still on the phone with the local LEO's in Maine." Ducky said. He handed her the requested sandwich before shedding his coat and hat. "Sorry it took so long dear. Grilled cheese with chicken is apparently special order at the café."

"Thanks Ducky." She bit into it with a happy little sigh. "You're quite welcome. Any luck on the recording?"

She swallowed. "He turns his head right at that last moment. I can't be positive but I think he's saying 'behind the picture of us.'"

"Well. That's a start."

She bit off another chunk of sandwich and tears welled up in her eyes. She choked down the bite. "Uh." She grunted. She pitched forward and grabbed her stomach.

She heard footsteps behind her. "Abby?" McGee spun her around. "You okay?"

"Uh." She wheezed.

"Are you in labor? Is the baby coming now? They're just Braxton Hicks, right? Right? You can't have the kid now. It's too early."

"Technically gestation takes anywhere from thirty-eight to forty two weeks, so she'd be right on time if the baby came now. It's not coming now, is it?" Ducky checked his pocket for his car keys.

"Relax." Abby blinked the tears out of her eyes as she reached for her sandwich. "Just Braxton Hicks." _If that's a practice contraction I so never want to feel a real one. So not ready to push an entire human being out a very small hole._ "Did you have fun on the phone today Timmy?"

"No." The look he sent her said he wasn't entirely convinced what she was okay. "But I did have some luck." McGee bent over her keyboard and called up a newspaper article 'Town Mourns the Loss of Young Lobsterman' to the plasma. "I have a lead on Marner's Erich Weiss. Local from Booth Bay Harbor, presumed drowned ten years ago when his body washed up on Monhegan Island three days after he went into the drink. No autopsy. And the best part? He was buddies with Liptak and Marner."

"Ah. The plot thickens." Said Ducky.

The mass spectrometer let a ding! Abby pushed off hard with her feet and zoomed across the floor to look at the read out.

"Duckman. You were right about Lutz. He didn't drown in the tub. The water sample from his lungs is constant with rain water sprinkled with a liberal amount of silt and fertilizer, I'm thinking a drainage ditch or canal."

"Plenty of those in Florida." McGee said. "I'll call Gibbs."

Abby grabbed onto his arm and hauled herself up. "I'll do it. He's not going to mess with me."

X

"If anyone asks." Camie said as she wiggled through the open window at the Liptaks. "We didn't break we just entered." She turned around and opened the back door for Gibbs.

"I could have picked the lock." He said.

"I'm sure. But they have this little alarm gizmo on the door and seeing as how we have no warrant forcing the window seems like a better choice."

"Murders tend to be untrusting."

"This is a long shot you know." Camie said as they crept along the hall to the living room. "If Liptak even knew that Marner had evidence on him and happened to find it, why hide it here and not destroy it?

"Be thorough. Always double check." Gibbs scanned the pictures lining the hall.

"I know I know." Camie let out a low whistle as they entered the living room. "Holy Moly. It's a yard sale waiting to happen." Pictures laid out frame to frame covered the walls, tabletops, sideboard, and bookshelves. "This is going to take a while."

"We can narrow it down to a photo with Marner in it." Gibbs said.

Camie lifted a framed photo from the top of the sideboard and turned it over. "He says, 'It's behind the picture of us.' Maybe it's something written on the back? Or hidden in a frame?"

"Gee. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Wise guy." Camie set the photo back. "Cripes. Will you look at this? She's got at least twenty photo albums here. This is going to take time. Let's hope Tony and Ziva can waylay him long enough for us to get done."

Gibbs smiled. "They can create one hell of a distraction."

X

Ziva reached for her water bottle and immediately recoiled. She'd only have to pee again and squatting by the side of the road while Tony and her mother tried not to lose sight of Liptak's car was unappealing. She checked the dashboard clock. It had been six hours since Liptak had dropped Meg and Mary off at the Mall and sped off without a backwards glance. Since then they'd steadily wound their way north on congested roads.

She shielded her eyes against the orangey pink twilight as she fixated on the back of Liptak's car. "Where the hell are we going?"

"I have no idea. But we're heading towards route 95. And route 95 goes all the way to Canada." Tony said.

"Fantastic. We get to drive all the way to Maine."

A sharp snore brought his attention to the back seat where Sarah Chevral slept, head tipped back against the headrest. Her snores made Ziva's sound dainty.

"You two seem to get along pretty well."

"Yes and no." She smoothed her dress over her stomach. She'd thrown the green cotton piece into her luggage knowing full well the day would soon come when nothing would fit and she'd be tempted to strangle Tony with a pair of pregnant lady panties.

Tony reached out to knead the back of her neck. "You look good."

"I feel like crap. My pants didn't fit this morning." She stared down at her stomach. While it was no longer flat, she had yet to look noticeably pregnant.

"You're still beautiful." She tilted her neck from side to side as he rubbed it. "Have you thought of a name yet?"

"No."

Liptak hooked a right and pulled on to a narrow one-lane highway flanked on each side by low-lying scrub and muddy drainage ditches. Tony hung back. "We need a nickname at least. We can't keep calling it 'it'"

Sarah's snores broke off. "I used to call Ziva-"

"_Mother_."

Tony's eyes met Sarah's in the rearview mirror. She smiled her lopsided smile at him. "You know." She said. "Love, sex, and jealousy are highly underrated as motivators."

Tony's panicked gaze swiveled between mother and daughter.

Ziva gave his thigh a squeeze. "She's talking about Liptak. Not you."

"Right." _Smart move DiNozzo. You had to fall in love with an assassin whose mother, by the way, just happens to rub people out for a living too. Good going._

Tony thumped the steering wheel in frustration as the traffic crept along at sloth speed. Three cars ahead of them Liptak was apparently going insane. He swerved left and right as he rode the bumper of a boat like Oldsmobile piloted by a blue haired old lady. "We're really going to have to baby proof."

"It's going to be a while before the baby's crawling around. Then we'll get those little plastic outlet covers and the baby gates."

"I was talking about the fact that guns, knives and babies don't mix. You can't sleep with a gun under your pillow with a kid in the house."

She rubbed her hardened stomach. _He's right. I am so not ready for this. What am I thinking? I'm not cut out for this. He's not cut out for this. I'm going to be sick_. She leaned her head against the cool glass of the window and willed the feeling to pass.

"Speaking of houses, what do you want to do about that? We need to move in together. Two bedrooms though. No way are we sleeping with the baby in our room."

_Baby in our room. Our baby. Our room. Baby means no sex. No life. Not being able to work as much as I do now. I'm not meant to be a mom. Maybe we should just give it up for adoption. _"Three bedrooms." She said hesitantly.

Tony moved his hand as he shifted and went back to rubbing her neck. "You want us to have separate bedrooms?"

"No."

"Thank God. Wait, you're not having twins are you?"

"No twins. Please don't throw up again."

Ahead of them, Liptak zoomed left into oncoming traffic in attempt to pass the Oldsmobile only to cut hard back into their lane to avoid an oncoming dump truck. Undeterred, he swung right and sped along the narrow gravel berm that separated the road from the drainage ditch.

Ziva reached for the wheel. "What are you doing? Follow him."

"No way. You're pregnant."

"You think I haven't noticed that detail?"

The squeal of worn out breaks pierced the air. They looked up in time to see Liptak's car roll over twice, tear through the underbrush and plummet into a drainage ditch.

Tony pulled over to the shoulder, kicking up gravel as he mashed the brakes to the floor. The Jeep came to rest on an angle. Ziva eased gingerly out of the passenger door and picked her way through the scrub to stand with Tony at the top of the ditch.

"He's not coming up." Tony said, pointing to Liptak's sedan that now floated butt up in the swampy water.

"I can see that."

Neither of them heard Sarah approach. "We're sure he's the bad guy?"

"Positive." Ziva said.

"Good." She pointed to a large bumpy log. "Because I think that's an Alligator."

The log blinked and submerged.

"I'd say so." Tony said.

"What do you say we just stay here and show the divers where to look for the body?" Ziva rubbed her arms briskly. The night had turned cool.

"You want to wait in the car?" Tony asked.

She turned on her heel. "You read my mind."

X

Sorry it took so long to update. I gave my wrist a pretty good whack, so it's been slow going here. Thank you for reading, and as always, reviews make me smile. So make me smile. Thanks, Jeanne.


	10. Chapter 10

"You might not want to stand so close to the edge. Gators can jump." Calloway said. As a unit, Tony, Ziva, Sarah and Gibbs all took a step back. For once, none of them was displeased to have another agency process the scene. Tangling with a gator over the remains of a murderer wasn't high on the list of priorities.

The tow truck whined as the primordial ooze wrapped cable labored to pull Liptak's sedan out of the ditch. The back windows were now above the water.

One of the divers popped up and held up a shoe. "There's no body."

"Damn alligator had all the fun." Camie kicked at the dirt sending a trickle of pebbles into the ditch.

"Any luck at the Liptak's house?" Tony asked.

"Liptak had a ticket to Boston for tonight." Gibbs said.

"No photo?"

"Nope."

"Think he was going to Maine?" Tony asked.

"Yup."

Ziva stifled a yawn. "Either he knows what Marner's evidence is or he knows where to look."

They all jumped as Calloway slapped Gibbs' cheek. "Mosquito." She said. She wiped her hand on her pants. "Then he's one step ahead of us. We don't even know where to look."

Gibbs rubbed his cheek. "Swift made reservations at an Inn in Booth Bay Harbor. She knew where to start looking."

"Meg mentioned that she and James met at an Inn when they were in high school." Ziva said.

Gibbs flipped open his phone. "McGee. Cross reference all Inns in Booth Bay Harbor against all our principle players. And get the Gulfstream down here." His eyes cut to Ziva. "And tell Abby Ziva could use some warmer maternity clothes."

"Gibbs." Ziva said stunned.

"Officer David. You can't button your pants and DiNozzo's strutting like a peacock. It doesn't take a genius."

X

"The ocean smells different here." Ziva said as she sniffed the briny air. "It smells Rindy."

"Briny?" Tony offered. They picked their way up the illuminated path to the Bay View Inn. Nearby the ocean roared in the dense darkness.

"I suppose." She leaned on him as they mounted the steps of the ginger bread like Victorian.

In the darkened foyer a young woman looked up from her book. "May I help you?"

Gibbs flashed his badge. "We need to talk to Elizabeth Whitcomb. It concerns her granddaughter Meg."

"It's after midnight and she's over eighty years old. She's asleep. Can it wait?"

"It can." Gibbs said. "You have any rooms?"

"One." She said. "A suite." She pulled keys from under her desk. "Follow me." She wound her way up a dark wood staircase set with oriental runner. At the end of the hall she leaned on a heavy wooden door until it popped open.

"This room is scheduled for renovations but it's all I have. The water pressure in the shower is awful but the fire place works." She flicked a switch on the wall and the gas logs roared to life. The fire threw shadows over the room.

Gibbs' eyes shifted to four poster bed in the next room. He grunted, grabbed a sofa cushion, flung it on the floor and curled up in front of the fire.

"Flip you for the sofa?" Calloway asked Sarah.

"Take it." She said.

In sight of the bed Ziva felt the pain of true exhaustion. She pulled the pocket doors shut behind them and peeled out of her dress. She flung it on a chair in the corner and missed. She didn't bother to pick it up.

Tony handed her a shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. She dressed wordlessly and collapsed face down on the bed.

He brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck. "I was hoping you weren't going to get dressed so soon."

"Are you going to poke me with that all night long?" She mumbled into the pillow.

"Most likely."

"I'm exhausted."

He pressed himself against her. "Is there anything you could do about this situation?"

"Is it an emergency?"

"Oh yeah." He cupped her bottom.

She wiggled out of his grasp and swung out of bed. The door to the bathroom opened with a loud crack.

He followed her eagerly. "Group shower?"

"Solo." She said reaching for the faucet. "Hot or cold it's your choice."

X

"Mornin' beautiful." His anger at being pushed into self service the night before had faded with the sunrise. "I'm sorry about last night. I know you were exhausted." She lay face down on her pillow, motionless as he stroked her back.

"Look. I'm sorry if you're angry. I know it can't be easy being pregnant." He kissed her shoulder and smelled iron.

Panic burst in a staccato rhythm in his chest.

"Ziva?" He flipped her onto her back. She rolled stiffly, staring glassy eyed at the ceiling with empty eyes. A blossom of blood flowered on her chest.

"Bitch." Came a voice from the corner.

Hannah smiled at him with her soulless eyes. She held Ziva's knife by her side, blood dripping from the blade onto the carpet in an ever-widening puddle.

"No." He choked out.

Blade raised, Hannah lunged at him. He didn't resist.

He gasped as he awoke to the sunlit room. Ziva slept beside him, face wedged into his armpit, snoring.

"Ziva?" he shook her tentatively.

"Go away." She said. "Do it yourself."

He kissed her cheek and she swatted at him. Relieved but still shaken he stumbled in to the next room.

"I'll die before I let that happen." Sarah said. She sat on the sofa, cup of coffee in hand. "As would you. Yes?"

He poured himself a cup from the carafe on the desk. "Yes."

"I believe you." She patted the seat beside her. "Gibbs and Calloway have gone to interview Elizabeth Whitcomb. I wouldn't let him wake you both."

He hesitated.

"This is not the talk where I threaten you. Sit down."

He sat beside her. "Good. Maybe we can postpone that one indefinitely."

"I don't know about indefinitely. Her father is a different story."

"Fantastic."

She seemed ill at ease beside him and he knew it had nothing to do with his presence. She drew a deep breath. When she spoke she did not meet his eyes. "She was a difficult child to keep alive."

"I can imagine."

Her thickening accent betrayed her fatigue. "She is the best worst mistake I ever made."

Tony smiled and peered through the doors. Ziva still slept, sprawled slack limbed on their bed, probably happy he'd finally gotten up and given her some space. "Ziva is…." He pressed his lips together as he searched for the word.

Sarah found it for him. "Ziva. It's the only way to describe her."

Her lips curved in her half smile. "She was a bit of nudist as a child. I had a hard time making her keep her clothes on. Even in public. And she had a habit of putting things up her nose. Beads. Peas. Green beans. Blueberries."

He smothered his laugh. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because she never will. And I want…I want some one who loves her too to remember."

"Trust me. That's not something I'll forget."

"I'd rather you did." Ziva shuffled towards them. She kissed him before taking a long pull of his coffee. "Have a nice chat?"

"Oh yeah."

She narrowed her eyes at them. "_Mother_. Did you tell him the gold fish story?"

"No."

"Can I get a translation?" Tony asked. The words made no sense to him, but the tone was clear. Even Ziva had a plethora of embarrassing childhood memories.

"No." Ziva said sharply. She grabbed Tony's coffee and brought it with her into the bathroom. She washed quickly under the dribble of water that passed as a shower. She toweled off and slathered her body in cream, lingering on her stomach.

She dug through the bag Abby had packed for her and selected a long sleeve skull and cross bones shirt done in glitter, and pair of black pants that she had to roll up. She studied her reflection in the mirror. _I look like I'm playing dress up._

A muscle in her stomach twitched. She pressed her hand to it to quell it and it pulsed against her hand. Her mouth went dry and her tongue pulled at the roof of her mouth as she shouted.

"Tony. You have got to feel this."

X

Gibbs studied the sitting room as he drained his coffee. Dark wood bookshelves lined with musty first editions ran floor to ceiling. Large windows let in the early morning light. Over the mantel sat a ship in a bottle. An oil portrait of a young woman from centuries gone by hung on the far wall. It was all what one would expect of an old seaside inn. Except. He lifted a framed photo of three men and a woman sitting on the Inn's porch swing. He squinted and the faces of Meg and James Liptak, Shawn Marner and presumably Erich Weiss peered back at him.

He turned it over and studied it. Nothing was written on the black cardboard back. He slid the back out of the frame and a key fell out into his hand. He dropped it into his pocket, reassembled the frame and went off in search of Elizabeth Whitcomb.

X

Okay. So 16 weeks or so is a little early to feel a baby kick for a lot of women but it's a fic here. So. I put it in. Thank you for reading and as always, I appreciate your reviews. So let me know what you think. Thanks. Jeanne


	11. Chapter 11

So. Sorry about the long time between posts. Don't think I've ever waited that long. To be fair though, I blame it on the transformer that burst outside my bedroom window in spectacular display of sparks last week. But now, things are looking up. Got my power back, lights, heat, running water. So happy to be living in the 21st century again.

Oh and there's a little T rated nooky, just so you know.

Oh and once again. I don't own these characters. I'm just taking them out for a spin.

X

Elizabeth Whitcomb sighed and sat back against an antique rose patterned settee. "You said my granddaughter's husband is dead?"

"You're relieved." Gibbs said.

She fingered a large cross that hung around her neck. "I am."

Calloway looked around the room before making eye contact with Mrs. Whitcomb. She'd never understand why people felt the need to mount animal heads and guns on the wall. She'd stake money that none of the unfortunate creatures had appeared as fierce in the wild as they did, restuffed and hung on a wall. "Anything you can tell us would be helpful."

Gibbs held out the framed photo he'd swiped from the bookshelf. "Is this Erich Weiss?"

Mrs. Whitcomb's crayoned on eyebrows drew together in concentration. "This was taken just after Meg met James. It was such a stormy relationship."

"Violent?" asked Camie.

"No. It was more like they enjoyed the drama of fighting." She pulled a cotton handkerchief from up her sleeve and dabbed her eyes. "After one particularly loud fight Meg had a fling with Erich Weiss. She's certain she got pregnant by him. She wanted to marry him but he refused."

She made another pass at her eyes with the handkerchief before stuffing it back up her sleeve. "If her parents had ever found out she'd conceived out of wedlock they'd have made her give up the baby, and the thought of it broke her heart. So she went back to James, said she was pregnant with his child. He proposed on the spot. They got married later that week."

She smoothed the hem of her housedress. "Two weeks after Mary was born I came downstairs early one morning and I spooked Shawn. He was scrubbing the floor. I never saw what it was, but he told me it concerned James and that if I valued Meg's safety I'd never say a word. That was the day Erich went missing."

"Do you recognize this?" Gibbs reached into his pocket and held out the key he'd discovered in the back of the frame. Small, black and wrought iron, it looked like a museum piece.

"Yes."

"What does it go to Mrs. Whitcomb?" Calloway asked.

"That." She pointed to a wrought iron grillwork cabinet containing several antique rifles. "They belonged to my late husband. He was something of a collector. All the firing pins have been removed years ago. They've never worked."

The locked turned stiffly as Gibbs keyed it open. The door groaned with disuse.

A cursory glance didn't reveal anything out of place, save a tiny strand of hair plastered to the end of one of the dusty rifle butts. Gibbs flipped open his phone. "DiNozzo. Get out of bed and get the lumalight. I don't care what your mother in law says."

X

"Oh yeah boss. Blood spatter on the gun butt." Tony hefted one of the rifles in his gloved hands. "You think maybe this is the murder weapon?"

"Ya think?"

"With out Abby's magic to back us up, I'd say so." He slid the gun into a cardboard sleeve for safe transport back to Abby's lab.

Ziva paced the room. "Mrs. Whitcomb, where did you see Shawn cleaning?"

Mrs. Whitcomb pointed to a section of wide wood plank flooring in front of the fireplace. "Right about here."

Ziva pulled luminol from the kit by Tony's feet.

He grabbed her forearm. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Excuse me?"

He plucked the bottle from her grasp. "What if there are some chemicals in this that aren't good for the baby? Maybe you should just go sit down."

"Why don't I just leave and let _you_ do _your_ job." She said. "If you want me I'll be upstairs gestating." She turned on her heel and Sarah followed her out.

Gibbs clapped him on the back. "It's the end of the world DiNozzo."

Tony sighed inwardly and wondered how much farther beyond totally screwed he could get. _Work now. Worry about the end of the world later, DiNozzo._

He focused his attention on the spot Mrs. Whitcomb had indicated and sprayed it. It glowed a familiar blue. He worked the area and a long hidden blood trail emerged, leading across the room to the hall, and out the back door.

He stood with Calloway and Gibbs and an agitated Mrs. Whitcomb on the back stoop of the inn. At the edge of the brown expanse of lawn the ocean pummeled the shore. "Looks like he was hit on the head in there and dragged, bleeding out the back door." Tony said. "Put on his boat by Liptak or Marner. Dumped at sea."

"Only his boat was found drifting." Mrs. Whitcomb said.

Gibbs allowed himself a lengthy look at a Windjammer slowly winding its way up the coast. "They used two boats. One man dropped off the body and left the boat to drift. The second picked him up."

X

In the noisy din of the bar's after dinner crowd, Calloway raised her glass. "Cheers Gibbs. You're not so much of a bastard as you'd have people believe you know. If you're ever in Florida look me up."

He clinked his glass against hers and said nothing.

She laughed and downed her whiskey. "My thoughts exactly."

X

Sarah had lost track of how many times she'd reread the same line in her book, trying in vain to tune out the soft strains of Tony and Ziva's discussion flowing out of the bedroom.

_I told you I wanted the top. You try to concentrate flat on your back with your head between the toilet and garbage can._

_Zee-vah. There's only so long I'm actually going to be able to get on top. We could have done it in the shower._

_Please. Camel spit has more water pressure._

There was a pause where she figured Ziva had either broken something of his or….

She didn't want to think of what else. She exhaled when Tony started to speak again. The relief was short lived.

_God. You're so tight…_

She pushed her hands to her ears. While she had no qualms with her daughter's sex life, she had no desire to actually hear it.

X

They kissed lazily, facing each other in bed, her leg thrown over his hip. A movie droned in the background.

She slid her hand between their bodies to tease him. "Want to go again?"

"Yes." He pressed himself into her hand. "Want to call room service and have them send up some ice cream? Maybe a little chocolate sauce? Whipped cream?" He stroked her side down to cup her bottom.

She pulled away from him and sat up. His hand landed on the mattress.

"No. But now that you mention it I am hungry. I saw a little Thai Place in town. I think I could definitely go for some Pad Thai."

He lay back against the pillow staring at the canopy. "You're kidding, right?"

"No."

"I'm sorry. I'm still wondering how you got from horny to hungry so fast."

"Pregnant."

"I've noticed." He sat up and pulled her hair aside. One hand cupped her tummy as he kissed the nape of her neck, her skin soft and sweet under his lips. "Do you want to check the room service menu and see if there's something you want?

"No. I want Pad Thai."

"I know you do."

She tilted her neck to let him kiss her and for a blissful moment he thought she'd forgotten about it. "We have a four poster bed." She said.

"Uh huh." He sucked at her neck.

She tugged at the cloth tie restraining the bed curtain to one of the posts. "And there are four of these."

"Uh Huh.

She smoothed her hand down his stomach to grasp him. Her fingers worked his length. "And you have four limbs."

"Ah hah."

Her last touch was feather soft. "I'm going to take a bath. If there's Pad Thai here when I get out I'll make the wait worth your while."

Zipping up his jeans was a struggle.

X

Sarah's cell phone rang. Her steady voice didn't betray her fear. "What do you want Hannah?"

Hannah laughed low in her throat and Sarah shuddered to think she'd once found the sound light and beautiful.

"I think you know."

"You are not getting Ziva." _I will die before that happens. _

"Oh. I don't want her. Just the baby."

X

Gibbs flipped open his phone. "What?"

"I know how Special Agent Swift was murdered." Ducky said. "It was ingenious really. Or perhaps it was just a stroke of luck. It was much like a case at Scotland Yard that had them baffled a while back. There was a man whose wives kept drowning in the bathtub. They knew it must be foul play but could never prove it until one day two agents assigned…"

"Ducky?"

"Swift was relaxing in the tub and had her eyes closed. Liptak jerked her legs straight down then up, in sort of a scooping swooshing motion, not unlike that Nike Logo. The water rushed up her nostrils and into her lungs before she knew what was happening she was gone. Didn't have a chance to fight back."

"Good work Ducky." He clicked the phone closed and returned his attention to Camie. "You like boats?"

X

Ziva sank into the warm bath, her fingers splayed across her stomach. _I swear it popped out over night. _She leaned her head against the back of the tub and closed her eyes. _At least Tony thinks the belly is sexy. I think he means it too. _

The lock on the bathroom door clicked shut. She opened her eyes and grinned into the darkness. He'd always been insatiable, but something about her new appearance spurred him into over drive. She had to admit, the new world of pregnant sex was something she enjoyed. "You back already? Were they closed?"

A cold breeze blew threw the room. "Close the window, will you?"

Strong hands grabbed her ankles. "Not funny Tony." She said just before her brain registered. _Not his touch_.

She heard the crack of her skull as it bounced against porcelain tub. She twisted her head and held her breath as she was yanked, feet first straight into the air. A trickle of water slid down her throat.

X

Thank you for reading and as always, I love to hear from you, so let me know what you thought. Thanks. Jeanne.


	12. Chapter 12

Since I have no witty disclaimer I'm going to be downright boring and say yup, sad but true NCIS is not mine and the whole disclaimer doo dad is on the first page.

Once again, I'm sorry it's been taking me a bit longer to update. I'm a slow writer. But I'd rather post something I'm happy with than anything at all just for the sake of posting quickly. Thanks Again for reading! Jeanne

X

Tony pushed through the foyer and bumped into Gibbs and Calloway coming through the front door.

"Food run?" Gibbs asked with a smile.

"Pad Thai." He said humorlessly.

"Get a couple of other things." Calloway said. "She's probably going to change her mind by the time you get back."

"Okay." _As long as it's not about sex she can change her mind all she wants._

His mind drifted back to Ziva, nude, fingering the bed ties. How much longer would she be thin enough to fit under him? And how exactly did one make love to a heavily pregnant woman anyway? There was probably some strategy involved. Spooning, perhaps. Or she'd have to get up on all fours. Although something told him there was only so long she'd go for that. Probably, almost definitely, it was going to have to be spooning. Unless he just relinquished the top to her for the months to follow. He made a mental note to ask Abby if there was something worth trying, and immediately scrapped the idea. He didn't want to have to picture a nude McGee in all his glory.

The sharp report of gunfire snapped him from his reverie, two sets of two shots reverberated down the stairs.

He took the steps two at time. He stuck his key in the lock and twisted the knob. The heavy door didn't budge. He backed up to slam it with his body. Gibbs joined him. Together their combined weight popped it open and they half fell into the empty room.

Tony's hand went immediately to his service revolver. "Ziva!"

"Here." Shouted Sarah from the bathroom. "Call an ambulance."

"On it." Camie said.

_Ambulance?_ His heart knocking against his ribs, he raced into the bathroom.

Ziva lay nude, sprawled on the damp bathroom tile. Inches from her pale body, James Liptak slumped against the wall. He groaned and clutched his chest. Blood burbled at his lips.

Sarah trained her pistol him. Her eyes darted between him and Ziva. "Call an ambulance." She repeated, her voice eerily steady.

"Done." Camie called from the bedroom. "On the way."

With a raspy wet cough Ziva rolled herself onto her side. She coughed again, hard, drawing her legs up to her chest.

Gibbs trained his gun on Liptak. "DiNozzo. Sarah. I have him. Help her_."_

Tony eased her upright. He waited for another round of coughing to stop before helping her to her feet.

"I'm okay." She mumbled into his chest. Then she felt it: warm, sticky, viscous liquid trickling down her inner thigh. _Please tell me it's not what I think it is, right in front of Gibbs and my mother. You'd think the bath would have taken care of that. This just keeps getting better and better._

Tony steered her to the bed. "You need to lay down."

"Left side." Sarah said. "Put her on her left."

He stretched her out on the bed and helped her pull a nightshirt. "Camie get a towel. I want to try and stop the bleeding.

Ziva touched her scalp. "Head wound. Always bleeds a lot."

"No. Honey. That's not what I mean."

She reached down to touch the substance on her leg. Her fingers came up bright red. _Don't. Panic. Don't panic. Don'tpanicdon'tpanicdon'tpanic._ "Oh God."

"Here." Camie handed him a bathsheet.

"Ungh." Ziva grunted as Tony applied pressure. He had no idea if it was helping but it gave him something to do. He stroked her cheek with his free hand."Have you thought of any names?"

"No." The light hurt her eyes. She let them flicker closed before forcing herself to reopen them.

"Where do you want to look for an apartment? How about something by a park? It would be nice to have a place to run around with…"

She yawned and closed her eyes.

"Hey. Don't fall asleep." He shook her shoulder. Where the hell were the paramedics?

The jangle of the gurney brought his attention to the corner. _Thank God_. "They're here." He lifted her shirt and kissed her abdomen before kissing her full on the mouth.

She returned his kiss lightly. "Don't say it."

"I love you."

X

"My handcuffs are tight."

"Did you hear something Special Agent Calloway?"

"I think he said he needs me to tighten his cuffs." Camie got up from her plastic chair beside Liptak's hospital bed. She seized his wrist and tightened the bracelet connecting him to the bedrail. He didn't make any sound but to her delight his eyes watered. "You're going to love it when they do the cavity search every night before lights out in Leavenworth. That's if you don't fry for it. Personally, I'm on the fence with which I like better."

Gibbs sipped his coffee. "The chair or nightly cavity searches? Tough call."

"You don't scare me." Liptak said.

"Didn't think we did."

Sarah appeared in the doorway. She strode silently across the room and halted by the foot of Liptak's bed. She reminded Gibbs of a serpent: Calm, cool, collected, anticipating the strike. "Has he answered all of your questions to your satisfaction?"

"One more time. For the record." Calloway said. "Tell us how you evaded Mr. Teeth."

"The bitch slipped." He jerked his head at Sarah. "When the two of them caught her I swam away. They never saw me."

Gibbs smiled. "Well I'm satisfied. Are you Calloway?"

"Quite." She stood and scooped her backpack off of the chair. "Can I interest you in the cafeteria? I hear they serve a mean tuna casserole."

Alone with Liptak, Sarah fingered her Star of David. Her hand dropped to her side. "The _bitch_ is my daughter."

X

Tony sat with his head in his hands in the little waiting room adjacent to the ICU. He'd been kicked out of Ziva's room by a flurry of nurses and doctors who'd refused to tell him anything. He could hear them now jabbering in low urgent tones. For one of the few times in his life he felt small, powerless and alone

Sarah sank into the chair beside him. She placed her hand between his shoulder blades. "It wasn't your fault."

"Still feels like it."

"Always will."

A loud beeping sounded from Liptak's room. Nurses with a crash cart rushed by, their crepe soled shoes making little noise on the tile floor.

Sarah smiled her half smile. "He outlived his usefulness."

Any other day he would have laughed. "I hate this."

She pulled a bottle of water from her backpack and offered it to him. "I don't think there's a person on earth who doesn't."

He drained the bottle and tossed it into the near by bin. "How did you know she was in trouble?"

"I heard her talking to you, and then it was too quiet. And she didn't answer when I called her."

"I wasn't in the bathroom with her."

"I know. Like I said. It was too quiet."

He looked quizzically at her.

"You make a lot of noise when you have sex."

"I'm not sure which is weirder. That you know. Or that I'm not weirded out that you know."

She fingered her Star of David. "Ziva's my daughter. The banana didn't fall far from the tree."

"The apple. Although. I guess with what we're talking about you could say-you know what? Never mind."

A doctor who looked entirely too young to be saving lives entered the room. He adjusted his stethoscope around his neck. "I'm Doctor Miles. Are you Mrs. David's husband?"

Tony stood and rubbed his sweaty palms against his jeans. "We're not married I'm her... I'm her boyf…" he gulped. "The baby is ours."

"My mistake. She's got a mild concussion and her English was a bit difficult to understand."

"How is she?" he asked.

"Both mother and baby are doing well. She has a tiny tear in the placenta that should resolve itself in a few weeks. Until then, she's on bed rest. No getting up except to use the bathroom, and no activity of _any_ sort. Now if you'll follow me, she's asking for you." He led them down the hall.

The entirely too young Dr. Miles pulled aside the curtain. "Miss David, your family is here. Miss David?"

A blanket lay discarded on the bed. Her nightshirt was still crumpled on a chair in the corner.

"She was due to be moved. They must have already come." Dr. Miles squinted at his chart.

"They haven't." Tony lifted a small black and white picture from the tangle of the blankets. He traced his finger gently across the baby's profile. It had her nose. "Close down the hospital. She's been abducted. She never would have left this behind."

"Abducted?" Dr Miles said. "Impossible."

Sarah grabbed him by the front of his lab coat and hauled him up on his toes. "Close down the hospital."

"I'll alert security." He gushed. He hurried from the room.

Sarah seized Tony's arm and steered him down the hall. "We're going to find her." Stress and fatigue made her accent thicker.

"We don't even know where to start." He was surprised to hear the pessimism in his voice.

"We'll think of something." She flipped open her phone and spoke in rapid Hebrew. He couldn't understand the words but the meaning was clear. Help.

"Gibbs." He said.

She tightened her grip on his elbow. "He can catch up."

She pushed him into the elevator and punched the button to close the door. "There is good news."

"I'm listening."

"Hannah wants the baby."

"Which means she has to keep Ziva alive."

Sarah nodded.

"And the bad news?"

"Bad news?"

"The bad news you're not telling me because you're doing the same little expression thing Ziva does when she wants me to guess but doesn't want to say anything. Yes. Give me the bad news."

"_Still_ and _Rest_ are not words that spring to mind when you think of Ziva. She might not be pregnant for long."

He lifted the picture and stroked it lightly with his fingertip. "Hang in there kid."

X

The snapping sensation deep in her abdomen woke her. "Knock it off kid." She groaned. "I hurt." _Hurt_ was an understatement. Her entire body felt stiff and sore. Her head throbbed. Her eyes felt entirely too big for their sockets. She forced herself to open them and squinted into the light. She sat up. Something was off. She wasn't in the hospital.

The haze of pain cleared as adrenaline took over. The bedroom was not hers. The black maternity nightgown she wore was not hers. _I must be dreaming. This has got to be a dream. Unarmed, alone, pregnant. It's a dream. Has to be._

She made a cursory inspection of the room. Double bed with fluffy bedspread. Closet full of maternity clothes she'd never shopped for. No window.

She tentatively pushed open the bedroom door. It gave onto a well lit loft apartment. By the look of it, it had once been the attic of an older home. Thick wooden beams ran between the brick walls. A small window let in the early morning light. A black leather sofa stood out against the white fluffy carpet. A piano occupied a chunk of the far wall, a large potted cactus in a heavy ceramic pot sat atop it. A pale wood coffee table held stacks of her favorite classic books and a pair of binoculars. Cold fear knotted in her stomach. _This is not a dream._

She fled immediately to the apartment door. She ran her hands around the edges of the door in frustration. There was no lock to be picked. The hinges were on the outside and could not be forced apart. She pulled on the handle as hard as she dared. _Bed rest._ Flashed in her mind. _Think of something else._

She turned her attention to the window. She pressed her face to the glass. No fire escape in reach of the window. No drainpipe to shimmy down. Just sheer brick. She tugged at the window sash only to realize it was bolted shut.

She snatched the cactus from the piano top and flung it against the glass. The ceramic pot erupted in a shower of pottery shards.

Cold hard rage kept the fear at bay as she wiped the dirt from the window. She pressed her face to the glass once more and focused on the street below. Five stories down, on a familiar tree lined street, life went on without her.

X

There's more Tiva coming up. And more Tiva sex. No worries. This is just the angsty part that makes the whole naked and sweaty part really good.

As always thank you for reading and thank you thank you for leaving a review. Let me know what you think! Jeanne


	13. Chapter 13

Cripes. I keep telling myself that I'm going to write on the plane, only to realize time and again that sitting with my knees in my mouth in coach for six hours with no computer is just not condusive to writing for me. So it's been a while since my last update. Sorry.

There's some T rated sex stuff in here, without an actual sex scene, so don't say I didn't warn you. And don't get your hopes up. THAT whole scene is in a different chapter, which is coming. Soon. Les prometo.

Once again mil gracias to all who read and especially all who read and review, it's encouraging to say the least. Thanks. Keep'em coming. Jeanne

X

Ziva stood by the window and adjusted the focus of the binoculars as she directed her gaze across the darkened street and down one storey. The damn things just happened to be equipped with night vision.

In Tony's apartment, her mother was quietly reading on the sofa, one hand placed over her cell phone, waiting for a call from her contact she imagined. She wondered if she'd bothered to speak to her father. They were archenemies but had always managed to pull together when it came to her.

She shifted her gaze to Tony's-no, their-bedroom. He hadn't pulled the drapes and she could see him now fresh from the shower, a towel around his waist.

He paused in the window and his gaze drifted upwards to her prison. She knew he wouldn't see her. She'd spotted him and her mother on the street earlier and screamed until her voice was gone and hands were swollen from pounding on the window. She'd resigned herself to the fact that Hannah had imprisoned her in not only a soundproof box, but one safe from the view of prying eyes as well. She hoped whomever had invented darkly tinted unbreakable glass was currently suffering from a painful rash. Or better, dead.

She followed Tony with her gaze as he locked his bedroom door and let the towel drop. _Good move, locking the door. Of course it won't stop mother if she wants to get in to see you. I know that from experience. But she'll probably take the hint that you don't want to be interrupted._

He pulled back the top blanket and lay down on top of the sheet. _Figures. Saturday night. No date. Stressed. Got to, what do you call it, clear your head?"_ She set the binoculars down on the sill and forced herself to retreat into the bedroom. Pounding and screaming was a fruitless waste of energy she dearly needed to conserve. As was watching Tony. She knew what came next and didn't want to see it. _At least not when I can't join in._

She stretched out on top of the comforter and pulled a small wool throw over herself. Her head was pounding and vision fuzzy. She felt woozy and weak and knew. Any fight would end poorly for her. She'd rest and then resume the search for a way out.

She closed her eyes against the garishness of the bedroom. It was done in a shade of pink that Abby had once described to her as Barbie Barf. Double bed. Nightstand bolted to the wall with a yet unopened copy of 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' laid out on it: closet full of hideous maternity clothes. Under normal circumstances she'd have been pissed about the appearance of floral tie back tops and jeans with large elastic panel in her wardrobe. They were the least of her worries. If she could get out, she'd gladly wear the stupid stretchy pants.

She cradled her stomach as the internal debate raged on. Did she fight her way out? The baby wouldn't make it and it might be the end of her as well but she'd go down fighting. Or she did she wait and get herself out with more cunning than brute force?

Her mind's eye played back over the past forty-eight hours. There was a whirl of discombobulated faces and haze of voices in the cloying antiseptic room. A doctor warning her about bed rest: a serious young nurse who promised to bring Tony in to see her. Then a pinch in her arm followed by a floating feeling. Then: the tomb like silence of the soundproofed attic.

The closest thing to a weapon she'd found so far was the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, unabridged and leather bound. It was unwieldy and a last resort since popping Hannah in the face with it was likely only to make her cranky. And as long as Hannah was happy with her little delusion that Ziva was going to roll over and give herself up to save the baby, she'd have time and relative freedom to think of a way out. Or at least recoup enough to go down fighting.

Beeping sounded from the door as Hannah keyed open the external lock.

She sprang from the bed and paused in the entrance to the bedroom. Hannah entered accompanied by two neckless troglodytes armed with rifles. Fighting her way out was going to have to go on hold for the present. She'd have to go with cunning.

Hannah clicked her tongue. "You should get back in bed."

Ziva met her with a cold stare.

The leather sofa squeaked as Hannah sat on it. She patted the cushion next to her. "At least sit down if you're not going to lay down."

"Screw you." Her voice was low, husky. It felt scraped raw from screaming.

"I think you're by definition the one who's screwed. Both literally and figuratively." Hannah patted the sofa again. "We used to be friends you and I."

"Attempted homicide has a way of ruining friendships." She said dryly.

Hannah pulled out her cell phone and held it out. "Look. I'm prepared to let you call your beloved. If you sit down."

Ziva crossed the room in two steps and sat, dismayed by how quickly she had complied. She stuck out her hand.

"Not so fast." Hannah nodded at goon number one. He went to the window and leveled his rifle. "He has a clear shot. So unless you want Tony dearest sniped while he's relieving some _pressure_ all by himself in bed, don't tell him anything that could get him killed." She dialed and hit speakerphone.

Tony picked up on the third ring.

Hannah spoke first. "You have sixty seconds. I'm counting."

"Hannah." He said, his voice hard.

"Agent DiNozzo."

"Special Agent."

"I'll make a note of it. But you're wasting your time. I have some one here who wants to talk to you."

"Tony." She hoped her voice sounded strong.

His response was just short of a gasp. "Ziva."

"She wants the baby."

"I know. Do what you need to do."

"I see."

"Where are you?"

"I can't say."

Goon number one joined goon number two at the window: "Seriously, you think he would have taken care of that in the shower"

Hannah clicked the phone off. "Idiot." She hissed. "You'd better hope he didn't hear that."

The baby swooped down low in Ziva's stomach so quickly she thought she might wet her pants in front of all of them. It did a dance on her bladder for a second and zoomed back up. She rubbed it, willing it to be still. If Tony were there, she'd tell him it was time for sex. Sex seemed to lull it to sleep.

Hannah reached out to touch her stomach. Ziva grabbed her wrist and squeezed, halting her fingers millimeters from her skin.

Hannah giggled. "They discovered a little mistake when they took you in. You're two weeks farther along than they thought. I'd say you'd need to fire your doctor, but, like you'll be seeing her again."

She yanked herself free of Ziva's grasp and went into the kitchen and returned with the calendar. She flipped it open to the end of March and looped a large red circle around one of the days. "I've taken the liberty of scheduling your C section."

"Too bad you won't be able to attend." Ziva smirked.

Hannah's eyes turned cold and steely. She pressed her hand uncomfortably to her abdomen. Ziva forced herself not to flinch. "I promise I'll let you hold her before you die."

The tiny voice that she heard could not have been her own. "It's a girl?"

X

Abby jolted from sleep as a contraction crushed her body. She lashed out with a kick and made contact with McGee's calf. "I hate you."

He snorted groggily and sat up. "What was that for?"

"You suck."

"Are you in labour?"

"I feel like my body wants to push itself inside out. Through a very… small… hole..." She punctuated each word with a swift kick to his calf.

He jumped out of bed and raced to her side, helping her ease into a sitting position. At two weeks past due, sitting up was no easy task for her. "I'll call the doctor from the car. Look on the bright side." He said, feeding her feet into her slippers. "It's Friday the thirteenth."

X

_The snoring, the kicking, the gun under the pillow, I can't believe I actually miss it. Missing sex is a given. Missing her cooking is given. But that? It's true. I love her._

Tony slid his hand under Ziva's pillow and fingered the filmy material of her black nightgown. She'd worn it when they went undercover together and he'd always liked it. Sleeping with it under her pillow was a silly gestured he knew: she'd never let him live it down if she ever found out. But being the butt of her joke for the rest of his life suddenly didn't seem as bad as it would have two weeks ago.

He worried the silky material between his fingers and wondered if she would actually still fit into it when he found her. Would her stomach have grown any in the past two weeks? Would she look noticeably pregnant? Was she actually still? Since the one brief call two weeks ago they hadn't had one lead that panned out.

He heard the front door creak open. Gun in hand he cracked the bedroom door open and took in the dimly lit hall.

Sarah moved like a wraith past him. She'd gotten a phone call over an hour ago and left, refusing his plea to go with her.

He pushed open the door. "How'd it go?"

Unphased, she turned to him and removed her jacket. A spray of blood decorated her shirt. "If we don't know in the next twenty four hours, then not well."

She pulled open the louvered doors in front of the stacked washing machine in the hall and proceeded to strip down to a sheer white bra and matching thong.

She flipped open the lid of the washer and stuffed her clothes in. "You have anything you want me to wash?"

"Nut uh." He choked. His dismay at watching his quasi mother in law stuffing bloodied laundry into the washer was waylaid by the fact that if she was anything to go on, Ziva was going to look damn good when she was older.

He shifted his gaze to the carpet as she stripped off her bra.

"Where's the detergent?" She asked.

"I'm out, actually."

"Bugger. It'll just have to soak." She pulled her thong down her legs and stuffed it in as well. "You don't have to stare at the carpet. Breasts are not naked."

He picked his gaze up and concentrated on her face. "It's the bare ass I'm having trouble with."

"Just a moment." She strode past him into his bedroom and pulled a clean set of Ziva's clothes from the drawer Ziva had claimed for herself months ago. After their fight, she'd never asked for them back and he hadn't bothered to clean it out. She selected clean underwear, a pair of jeans and long sleeved top.

He stood in the doorway, his back to her as she dressed.

"You can turn around now. I am, as you say, decent."

He did. "You shouldn't have left me behind. You need me."

"Ziva needs you. The baby needs you." She corrected. "And that is why I left you behind." She sat on the edge of the bed. "Would you mind if I used the bed for a few hours?"

"Not at all."

In the kitchen he plugged in the coffee pot. On autopilot he turned to the fridge to get the cream and froze with his hand on the handle. He'd stuck the baby's picture onto the refrigerator. He smiled. In profile, it looked very much like Ziva. _It's got to be a girl._ _Only a woman could ever cause this much trouble._

The phone rang and he snatched it from the hook. "DiNozzo."

McGee answered with a high-pitched whine of pain. "Abby. Don't squeeze me there."

"Abby in labour?" he asked, feeling a twinge of sadness.

"Uh huh."

"I'll be there in fifteen."

"Unnnnghh kay." McGee wheezed and hung up.

Tony went into the bedroom. "Sarah." He called. He had no desire to startle sleeping assassin.

"Yes?"

"Abby's in labour. I'm going to the hospital."

She didn't open her eyes. "Just remember. She won't mean anything she says."

X

So let me know what you think. Thanks again for reading and thank you thank you for reviewing. And now that I'm home I should be a little bit swifter. Jeanne


	14. Chapter 14

Once again, disclaimer's in chapter 1. Thank you for reading and thank you thank you to all who read and review. Enjoy. Jeanne

X

Ziva adjusted the shower spray and watched the suds slip down between her breasts and over her stomach. Once able to look down the entire length of her body, her belly protruded enough to partially block her view of her feet. _Twenty weeks along and already I can't wait to look like me again. Too bad I can't keep the boobs though. But maybe Tony will be able to touch them again without me wanting to kill him._

Tony. She missed him. She missed talking to him. Fighting with him. And Sex. Pregnancy seemed to have kicked her into overdrive and Tony wasn't there to meet the demand. She cranked the water off before the shower massage began to look too tempting. Having Hannah or the troglodyte minion she'd nick named no-neck catching her making due in the shower was not something she wanted. She smiled to herself. Hannah's second henchman had mysteriously disappeared the night after his unfortunate slip up on the phone. Now she had only one low life to deal with, plus Hannah. It was a small bright spot in her confinement.

She toweled off and applied a generous amount of cream to her abdomen and breasts. She was an optimist. Pregnant or not, she'd get out and she didn't want stretch marks and saggy boobs.

She pulled a robe from the back of the door and secured it loosely around her waist. Soon no-neck would be coming to administer her weekly check up. Last week the onion smelling man could barely contain his delight as he examined her. She'd been about to break his wandering fingers when she noticed a remote for the door in his pocket. It was then a new plan was born. While she was in no shape to overpower him, she could distract him. With Hannah in the kitchen she whispered in his ear, "Come back alone. Tomorrow."

Even though he looked like natural selection should have drowned him in the gene pool eons ago, he apparently had two brain cells to rub together. "I ain't stupid lady."

She huffed. "I'm pregnant and locked in a box and the shower isn't cutting it. She doesn't have to know."

"She won't." He'd squeezed her breast and left.

She selected 'Lady Chatterley's Lover,' from the stack on the coffee table and stretched out on the sofa. She didn't have to wait long before the door opened with a soft beep. No-neck was alone.

Ziva stood and stretched, her robe open. No-neck was transfixed.

He shuffled side to side as he approached her. She supposed the walk was meant to be masculine but to her it looked like his underwear had become firmly entrenched in his posterior. "What size breasts you got? They've gotta be a D cup."

She bit her tongue to not blurt out_. I don't know. What size are yours? _"I bet you'd know if you felt them."

He slid her robe off her shoulders and it fell away. She forced herself to moan in delight when he squeezed her breasts.

He squinted at her with his beady red-rimmed eyes. "I'm sure you're pent up baby. I saw that guy who did this to you. I'm telling you. I'm way bigger."

_Only if you are some sort of equine disguised a miserable excuse for a human being._ She nipped his lower lip. "Prove it."

X

"I swear. After this I am going to have McGee fixed. I might even do it myself. Right after he gets back from the cafeteria."

"You might have already accomplished that. Have you seen how he's walking?" Tony smiled at Abby. She sat propped up against her pillows, a Styrofoam cup of ice chips in her hand. Her hair was down. She wore no make up and a butt ugly hospital gown. He thought she'd never looked more beautiful.

"I do feel a little bit bad about that. I reached out. It was the first thing I came in contact with. Then I had a contraction. I guess I kind of locked and squeezed."

He felt nauseous. "Can we skip the part where you tell me how you squashed McGee's….how you squashed McGee?"

Abby shook some ice chips into her mouth. She pushed them into her cheek and sucked. "_I_ need to skip the part where I force an entire human being out my vagina."

"Maybe you need to push your little button thingy again."

She lifted a little buzzer like contraption attached to a long cord and pressed it, unleashing a fresh wave of Toridol through her veins. She sighed and settled back against the pillows. "That's better. Tell Ziva medication is the way to go. None of that natural birth stuff."

Suddenly the room seemed two sized too small. His heart beat a staccato rhythm in his ears. "She has to have a C section."

"Isn't it a little early to know that?"

He took a deep breath to steady his voice. "She's had complications before."

Abby reached out squeezed his hand. She felt like a lifeline. "I see."

He squeezed it back. "That's what Ziva said to me."

"Huh?"

"The mysterious phone call that that nutso sister in law of hers let her make, "I said 'do what you have to do' and she said 'I see.'"

Ice clinked against her teeth as she spoke. "What else did she say?"

"Not much. I asked her where she was and she said she couldn't say."

"Think carefully. Did she say she couldn't say? Or didn't know?

"She said. 'I can't say.'"

"You should have told me before." She admonished. "'I can't say' means she knows where she is."

He ran his thumb over the back of her hand. "I figured that part. Sarah and I have been running down leads but she's been so many places in her life that doesn't help much."

"That's only the half of it. She said. 'I see.'"

"I don't think that means anything."

Abby's eyes shown bright, "Au contraire. It's women speak. Like when we say 'I'm fine' but you're just supposed to guess what you've done wrong. Like getting your girlfriend pregnant."

"So what does it mean?"

"I think maybe she just meant she could see you at the time, or she had seen you."

His breath stalled in his lungs as the pieces clicked into place. He knew what Ziva had seen. It all made sense. He pulled out his cell phone. Sarah was now number one on speed dial. "Good news. I think I know where she might be."

X

"This must be the place." Tony said. He, Gibbs and Sarah stood outside a handless door locked with a keypad. The brass plate on the door read "Khoury Corporation." Later, he would berate himself for not realizing sooner where Ziva was. Not until he knew she was safe and he had her home, preferably when they were both naked in bed enjoying the after glow.

"No lock to pick. No handle. Any guesses as to the code?" He asked.

"It's probably unlocked with a little remote. I might know the code though." Sarah's slender fingers tapped against the keypad and the door opened.

Gibbs nodded his head in the direction of the door. He motioned for the two of them to enter.

Sidearms drawn, they advanced through the door. Tony's heart plummeted from his mouth down into his shoes. What appeared to be the living room of Ziva's prison was empty, but he'd recognize what she called her "happy sound" anywhere. He and Sarah exchanged a knowing look. She pointed at the bedroom and mouthed, "You look."

The rough brick scratched his back as he skimmed along the wall. He peered through the crack in the bedroom door.

Ziva's back was to him. Woman on top she undulated slowly, her low unearthly sounds filling the room. The man beneath her sounded like he was working his way up to a coronary.

Her hands slid up the grunting man's body. She fisted them in his hair and then _snap_-a great crunching of bone echoed in the small room. Suddenly the man's head was on backwards.

"Ziva?" he gasped.

"Tony." She dismounted and flung herself at him. He gathered her nude body into his arms. He breathed her in as he kissed her.

"Please tell me you didn't." He murmured against her mouth.

"No. But my skin still feels like it's crawling. We have to have sex soon. I have to scrub this from my mind and I need it."

He kissed her again until she broke away. She lifted the dead man's pants from the floor and pulled a small remote from his pocket. "Hold on to this."

She opened the closet and selected a rose print top and jeans. She wobbled as she pulled on her pants.

"Wow you're…"

"Fat? I just hit twenty weeks today and it's going to get worse."

"I was going with amazing uncoordinated." He said. He thought back to advice McGee had given him, no doubt gleaned from Gibbs. "You don't even look pregnant from behind."

"You know? I don't even care. Let's just get the hell out of here."

He sensed rather than felt Sarah behind him. "Ziva." She said, the relief evident in her voice. She kissed her daughter on each cheek and hugged her. "You can't leave yet. Hannah will no doubt be here soon. And it's four against one. We stay. We make sure she never leaves."

Tony wrapped his arms around Ziva. "Don't you hate it when she's right?"

"You have no idea."

"Put the body in the fridge." Sarah said. "Gibbs and I will wait outside. You two inside." She turned on her heel and left.

Tony's eyes cut to the dead body. "Normally when a guy dies like that they have trouble closing the coffin lid but I don't think he's going to have that problem."

She pulled back from him, her eyes narrowed. "I cannot _believe_ you just looked."

"Well, sweet cheeks. I did find you naked on top of him. And it sounded like the real deal."

"I was faking it."

He grabbed the corpse's feet and rolled it to the ground with a thud. "Your friend have a name?"

"I've just been calling him no-neck."

"I was going to go with Bluto." He lugged the body to the fridge in fits and starts and crammed him in.

Back in the bedroom Ziva stretched out a top the comforter on her side, Sarah's backup gun under her pillow.

Tony huddled in the closet. "Ziva."

"What?"

"You were really faking?"

He could have sworn she was smiling. "Yes. I've done it before I'll do it again."

"What do you mean? Certainly not with me."

"I have." She said. "With you."

"_What?!"_

"I was tired and wanted to get back to sleep. So sue me. This is an expression, yes?"

"Yes." He swallowed. He'd deal with the blow to his masculinity later. "Ziva?"

"What?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." She said. She caressed her stomach. "Both of you."

X

Once again sorry for the delay. I realized that the troglodyte needed a cameo. He's the archetypal bad date/ want to be date. I think they spawn in the dirty towel bin at the gym.

And then I realized. Heck, I've had enough of Tony and Ziva apart. The real fun is getting them together. So I had to condense the two chapters. Ah well. Hope you liked it. As always, Thanks for reading and let me know what you think. Jeanne.


	15. Chapter 15

Here it is. Sorry about the delay in posting. Since I like a little privacy, I'm just going to leave it as: You know how they say 'When life hands you lemons, make lemonade?' Well. I'm an optimist. And with all the lemonade I've made since I posted last, I could have sold enough to pay my student loans.

This is almost the last chapter. After this there's just tiva fluff, babies and sex left. Oh, and maybe a few more flying waffle makers.

As always, thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing. Let me know what you think. It makes me smile.

Jeanne

X

McGee's bag of ice had melted through his pants some time ago. He now sat in a puddle on his plastic hospital chair by Abby's bedside, looking very much like he'd had an accident. Strangely it didn't bother him. Tony and Ziva's plight had shifted everything into focus. He was by Abby's side. That was all that mattered. "You need anything?"

Abby glared at him. "To dilate five more centimeters before midnight so I can push this thing out."

Her hair was loose about her shoulders. He tucked an errant strand behind her ear. "I mean. Anything I can do for you?"

Her look softened and she took his hand. "You're already doing it."

He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I'm proud of you."

"Whatever for?"

"Just. Well. I couldn't do this."

She smiled again. "You don't have the equipment for it."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know." She closed her eyes and leaned back against the pillow. The epidural made her feel thickheaded. "I picked a date for the wedding."

He brightened. "When?"

"November 1st or 2nd. Day of the Dead, In Mexico at least."

"I thought you'd pick Halloween."

"I considered it. But then our anniversary would be on Halloween and how would we ever find a baby sitter?"

"Hadn't thought of that one."

"That's what you have me for." Abby wrinkled her nose. "Do you smell that? Did I wee myself?"

McGee looked at the widening puddle in her hospital bed. _Nasty. Thank God it didn't happen on our mattress. I don't think we'd ever get it out_. "I think your water broke."

"Fabulous."

X

The hours had swum by like years in Ziva's stuffy little closet. Hand on his Sig, Tony kept watch over her through the crack in the closet door as she feigned sleep on her bed. He kept his voice light and low as he spoke. "When we're done you need to go shopping. You need something hot." _That black nightgown is so not going to fit anymore. Something short and see through would be nice. Black. Maybe something parted in the middle to let her belly stick out. That would be nice. Oh, her belly. I so need pictures. _

Ziva peeled back her shirt displaying her rounded tummy: her voice dubious. "You can't seriously think this is hot."

"If we weren't laying in wait to kill your crazed ex sister in law, you'd be naked, sweaty and very sore right now. In fact, as soon as we get the go ahead from your doctor I have big plans. I have new terrain to explore."

She smiled. "About the faking it."

"Don't remind me." The revelation still stung. _She_ had faked with _him. _

Her voice was hushed and matter of fact. "I really only faked fifty percent of it. I was done and you just kept _going_ and all my usual tricks to get you to come had failed. So I faked a second one."

_Ah. I remember that night. She's right. I…wait._ "_All_ your usual tricks? It's just the finger sucking."

"Right. Just the finger sucking." She readjusted her grip on her mother's back up pistol she'd hidden under the pillow.

He didn't take the hint. "You have more than one trick?"

"No. Of course not." She said in a tone that implied the opposite.

"You do so. It's that little grunting moan isn't it?"

"No."

"It is so. It has to be."

He jumped as the closet doors shuddered. "What did you throw?"

"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare."

He peeked out the crack in the closet door at the book lying on the floor. "Holy Cow! You could really hurt someone with that. It's gotta weigh at least twenty pounds."

"It's the unabridged version." She said sweetly. "How's Abby? Did she have the baby yet?"

The soft beep of the door opening cut short his reply. Hannah glided silently into the room. Tony held his breath and drew his Sig. Hannah sat on the edge of the bed and bent over Ziva's body. He trained his Sig on her back and waited for a clear shot. Right now, she was too close to Ziva to snipe her safely.

Hannah muttered something in Hebrew. Ziva's eyes clicked open and she sat bolt upright on the bed. She trained her pistol on Hannah's chest. Her voice vibrated. "What did you give me?" She shook violently and collapsed onto the bed, immobile, staring at the ceiling.

Too late, he saw the empty syringe clutched in Hannah's hand. In a heartbeat Tony had the barrel of his Sig pressed into her temple. "What did you give her?"

Still seated, Hannah turned to him slowly. The barrel of his gun slid into position between her eyes. "Nice to see you again Tony."

"What did you give her?" He cocked the trigger.

Grinning, she lashed out swiftly with her foot, her boot connected with him between his legs with a sickening thud. He hit the floor in a blaze of pain.

In an instant she was on him, one knee planted squarely on his sternum. Her left hand tweaked his right wrist. His Sig fell from his numbed fingers. With her right hand she held her pistol to his forehead, the barrel frigid against his temple.

He grunted and punched her in the carotid artery. Unphased, she pushed the barrel of her gun into his skull.

"Bad move." She said.

"Cheap shot." He replied. He groped blindly along the floor until his hand made contact with something heavy, the book. He pulled it awkwardly into his fingers and round-housed Hannah in the head.

Her eyelids fluttered. It was enough. He rolled and pinned her, kneeling on her chest, gun pressed to her throat.

"The baby's not yours." She said. "She told me."

His body went cold. He pressed the trigger. Her throat erupted in a spray of blood. He stood and plugged four more rounds into her body, two in the skull, two in the heart.

X

McGee squeezed Abby's hand. With one centimeter left to go, she'd begun to despair. Gibbs, Tony and Sarah had not yet returned with Ziva. "I'm worried." She said. "Try his cell phone again."

"I did Abby. Maybe they need to keep it off."

"Please. Try again. I want everyone to be here."

Sweat beaded her pale forehead. He wiped it away with a cool cloth. "I know."

"I don't know what Tony would do if something happened to her. He's actually in love with her and not in love with the idea of love. And our resident assassin loves him back. I'd say they'd live happily ever after but I don't think either one of them believes in that crap. You know. It's just not possible. It's a myth. I mean, you can be happy a lot but really, part of being in love is reminding yourself you love the person enough not to smother them with their pillow in the middle of the night. Or back over them with your car. Or slip arsenic into their food."

"What's in the IV drip of yours Abby?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, you could use some."

X

The world was dark around the edges. She tried to lift her head, her whole body felt fused to the mattress. Her eyelids threatened to close of their own accord. Her breathing was labored, and shallow_. Please. Don't let him be dead. Don't take him from me. From us._

Tony's face showed above her in the narrowing black tunnel.

His head didn't seem to be attached to his body.

"She lied." She gasped, her voice a shadow of a whisper.

"I know." He kissed her as he cupped her stomach. "She's gone. It's over. I have you."

She sank into a world in which she could hear and feel, but not move or speak or open her eyes. She felt her body float: heard the steady beat of Tony's heart in hear ear. The chill of the November air invaded her lungs. In the distance, a siren screeched through the night air.

X

"It's eleven fifty nine Abby. PUSH." McGee said. His eyes were tightly shut. One glance at the little creature 'Crowning' and he'd had to close his eyes.

Legs drawn up to her chest, Abby grunted and bore down hard. A shrill cry filled the air.

McGee cracked an eye open. "It's a boy." He said. "He's perfect Abby."

Gasping, she collapsed against the bed. McGee kissed her on the lips. "You were amazing. I have no idea how you did it."

"Uh." She grunted. "Did I make it in time?"

"With thirty seconds to spare." The nurse said as she laid the child across her chest. Abby cradled him delicately.

"Does have a name?" asked the nurse.

Abby kissed the wrinkled bundle in her arms. "Timothy. Timothy Sciuto."

X

Ziva plucked irritably at the hospital sheet. She wanted to be home, in her bed, with Tony. Not stuck in a butt ugly hospital gown in the maternity ward discussing sex after baby with her mother.

"After the baby's born you can't have sex for at least six weeks. Of course, you won't care." Sarah said. "But he will. And he'll do anything if you promise to suck-"

"Mother." Ziva warned. "That's enough advice. Thank you." The sharpness in her voice was belayed by the gentleness of her touch as she took her mother's hand.

Sarah drew a deep breath. Her voice was steady, but pitched so low Ziva had to strain to hear her. "You love him."

"I do."

"Because of him or in spite of him?"

"Both. I can't help it."

"Love is like that."

The ensuing silence reverberated off the white walls.

Ziva cast an awkward glance at the clock. "You've got to go. Your plane leaves soon."

Sarah smoothed Ziva's curls and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back when the baby's born. I have a few loose ends to tie up before I retire. Have you told Tony I'm moving in with you both yet?"

Ziva shook her head no. "I'm waiting until the right time. Like when he's got the baby in his arms."

Sarah laughed. She stood and gathered her jacket from the back of the chair. "I hope I can finally be the mother you always deserved."

"You already are Mom."

X

Tony and Gibbs stood in front of the gift shop's refrigerator case trying to decide on the perfect flowers for Abby.

"No black roses." Tony said.

"It's a hospital. Ya think?"

"Maybe dark purple?"

Gibbs nodded. "She'd like that."

Tony selected a bouquet and set it on the counter. All in all, the flowers seemed trivial. Abby had managed to carry a baby for forty-two weeks only squeeze it out of an entirely too small space. Soon, it would be crying and pooping and not sleeping. Flowers seemed inadequate. An Olympic gold medal would have been better.

The both jumped as Sarah spoke up from behind them. "You're lucky Ziva doesn't have to go through labor."

"God." He said. "You're right. I'd be a dead man."

Gibbs smirked. "She's still not going to be happy camper when she gets her C-Section DiNozzo. You're not off the hook yet."

He felt his heart leap into his mouth before plummeting down into his stomach. He gulped.

Sarah laughed and linked her arm through Tony's. "Walk me out?"

Gibbs grinned. "Go on. I got this."

"I can't believe you didn't get scratch on you." Sarah said as they slowly made their way down the hall. "Bruised but not broken."

"I had rage on my side." He slowed their walk. He was sore and swollen and had found new sympathy for McGee. As soon as Ziva was cleared, he was going to make sure everything was in working order.

"Tell me again, you cleaned her watch with 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare'?"

"The unabridged version." He said bypassing the urge to correct the watch/clock snafu. "I have a new appreciation for the old bard."

Sarah didn't speak again until they were under the portico, watching snow swirl in the amber light of the city night. "Two things." She said. "She like yellow sapphires."

"And?"

"If you ask her, she'll say yes."

X

Once again, thanks for reading and thank you thank you for reviewing. Let me know what you think. It makes me smile. Jeanne


	16. Chapter 16

Once again, for those whose experience is incomplete with out it, the disclaimer's in the first chapter. First off, I must say sorry for the long delay. Let's just say sometimes life's a bitch, isn't it? Second, Mil Gracias to TonyZivaFan and Sheep for helping me get this chapter out. And last but not least. There's a bit of M RATED stuff at the end of this chapter. It's nothing too graphic in my mind, but if bare boobs are not your thing, just don't read between the xxx's (I couldn't resist) Thanks, Jeanne.

X

Ziva smiled as she cradled a somnolent baby Timmy in her arms. She laughed as his tiny fingers curled around her index finger. This was probably why people planned on babies, because it certainly had nothing to do with anyone actually liking being pregnant. At least, not that she could imagine.

She looked up at Abby. She'd never seen her so thoroughly exhausted. She was nearly motionless in her hospital bed. Her pale face was flushed. A faint echo of lipstick ringed her mouth. "Abbs, he's perfect."

"That he is." Said Abby, her loving gaze fixed on baby Timmy.

McGee looked faintly seasick as he clasped Abby's left hand between both of his. He glanced back and forth between her and his newborn son as if he couldn't believe his life.

Abby studied Ziva's face, "So what did the doctor say?"

"The baby's fine. I'm going home tomorrow. I hope." Ziva said.

"Thank God." Tony said from the doorway. He sank into the chair besides Ziva

The pink baloney loaf fidgeted. Ziva propped him against her shoulder and patted his back. He unleashed an impressive amount of gas.

Tony bit back the urge to say _like father like son._ "Good rip kid."

"You want to hold him? Ziva asked.

"I don't think that that would be a good-" He began until he caught sight of Abby's eager face "-I'd love to." Awkwardly he extracted the hazel-eyed creature from Ziva's arms.

"Support his head. And his butt." McGee said.

"Okay." Tony cupped his left hand behind the baby's head: His right supported the baby's backside. His heart knocked forcibly against his ribs. Baby Timmy blinked at him. He blinked back.

"It's a baby. Not a football." Ziva said, adjusting his grip so baby Timmy lay nestled in the crook of his arm.

"Not it." Tony corrected. "He. Baby Timmy."

"Timmy." She smiled. She stuck her hand out and baby Timmy closed his tiny fist around her index finger once more. She wiggled it in his grasp and he cooed. She beamed.

White faced, Tony watched the interchange between the two. "You've done this before."

"Yes." She said without further explanation.

He let it go. "He's almost your clone Abby, but who'd he get the curly blond hair from?"

Abby and McGee looked at each other. Abby laughed. "Me I suppose, when I was a kid."

"You're a blonde?" Tony asked.

"Was."

Tony lightly brushed the baby's whispy tuft of blonde curls. "He's so tiny."

"I beg to differ." Abby said. "He's a six pounder."

Ziva shuddered visibly.

The baby nuzzled Tony's chest, his head pivoting from side to side. "I don't think he likes me." Tony said as the baby let out a howl of disappointment.

"Let me try." Ziva lifted Timmy gently from Tony's arms and held him across her breast. She patted him reassuringly on the back making gentle shushing sounds. Timmy wailed louder and his head swiveled from side to side.

"He's rooting." Gibbs said, seeming to appear out of thin air in the room. "When they do that with their head they're looking to nurse. _What?!_ I do know something about babies."

Ziva handed baby Timmy over to Abby. She settled him against her chest and flipped out a boob. Baby Timmy latched on and sucking, swallowing noises filled the room.

Tony jerked his gaze away from Abby's pale breast when he caught McGee's protective stare. "We'll be going then." He said, urging Ziva to her feet.

In the maternity ward hall, she circled an arm around his waist. "What's wrong?" She asked, sensing his unease.

He pulled her gently towards him. "Nothing." _Everything. We're going to have a kid. I think I might want to marry you._

He could tell by her expression she knew he was lying but she didn't pry.

"What did you and mom talk about?"

He smirked. "She says once for the few weeks she breast fed you, she'd eaten a melon. Apparently you were allergic because your backend turned bright red. She said you looked like one of those red-assed baboons."

"Fantastic."

"Oh, and she had a hard time making sure your kept your clothes on in public."

"Most toddlers do, I think."

"Oh, and once you ate the family Goldfish."

"I was three. Ari! ….Ari dared me."

She fell silent and he could see her working hard to keep her emotions in check. "You going to nurse?"

"I don't think so. It's not like I can whip out a boob in the Bull Pen and pump. Plus…."

"Plus what?"

"Mother says they tend to squirt during sex."

He nearly tripped over his feet. "Fine by me. I don't really want to share them anyways."

Her eyes narrowed and she retreated from his embrace. "I suppose it's slipped your mind that I'm the one who does the sharing? They are attached to me."

"What? Do you want me to come right out and say I prefer them as sex objects than udders?"

"You're an ass." She said, pushing ahead of him through the door to her room.

He treated himself to a view of her yoga-pant clad backside. He was pleased to see she still moved with her swaying walk. Abby had been cute pregnant, but the last month of pregnancy her walk had been more penguin like. If it happened to Ziva, it was something he'd keep to himself. "I'm sorry. I just…."

"I know." She nodded, the soft note of her voice indicating that all was forgiven.

"How are you feeling?"

She gave him a wicked smile. "About like you."

"I'm warning you it's been so long it'd be a mercy mission."

She gave a little laugh and plopped down on the bed. "For who? Me or you?"

"Both I think."

"You staying?" She looked expectantly at him.

He leaned over and kissed her. "Got shopping to do before…" _Before I lose my nerve._ "…Before you come home. You're going to need something sexy, I'm thinking black, see through…."

She swatted at him. "I'd settle for a pair of jeans without that stupid elastic panel."

X

Jen ran her hands over the warm wood of the cradle. "I didn't know you could make anything besides boats."

"A few things." Gibbs said, drawing the last coat of varnish across one of the identical cradles occupying the place of honor in his basement.

"They're beautiful." She said. She gestured to one in the corner. "But why'd you make three?"

Gibbs' hands stilled for a moment betraying his emotion. "First thing I ever made."

"Oh." She said softly. "They're going to love them."

He nodded. "You want to order dinner?"

"Nah." She could have sworn his face fell ever so slightly. A slow smile crept across her face. "I thought I'd cook instead."

He grinned and picked up the paintbrush. "You make good chicken as I recall."

X

Ziva hummed as she rummaged through the uppermost cabinets of her kitchen. It felt good to be in her-_no, their_-apartment. She was safe. Tony was safe, and the baby was kicking out a steady beat against her ribs.

"Get off the stool." Tony said from a foot below her.

"I'm fine."

"You're pregnant and you're on a stool. No, you are not fine."

She glared at him, her eyes slitty.

"What do you want up there anyways?"

"Food." She said as she continued to rummage. "We haven't been shopping in ages and I think I've got a can of soup up here."

"I stayed here last night. There's pizza in the fridge if you want to heat it up."

"Oh." She accepted his proffered hand and descended from the stool with a little oomph. "Good I'm hungry."

"Me too. I got you a few things. I wouldn't mind a fashion show."

"Food hungry not sex hungry."

"Damn." His hands roamed her back as she slid two slices of pizza into the toaster. "Barefoot in the kitchen? If they could only see you now at Mossad."

"Mossad women do get pregnant. We're not some strange race of Amazons cutting off our right breasts, you know." She broke free and pulled two plates from the cabinet, wincing as her stomach bumped the counter's edge. She swore. "Pregnancy sucks."

"It can't be all that bad, I mean, you can orgasm in about five minutes flat! When does that ever happen to a woman? And you don't even look pregnant from behind!"

He barely dodged the air born coffee mug. It soared past his ear and exploded against the far wall in a spray of white ceramic shards.

"Quit it. I don't want to go back to the hospital."

"Sorry." She said with a smirk. "It was a hormone thing."

Hands on her shoulders he kissed her. "Hormone thing."

She mewled against his mouth; her fingers teased the zipper of his jeans.

"I thought you were hungry." He said regretting his words as soon as they left his lips.

Her lips barely left his. "Like you said. It's not going to take long."

XXX

She pulled away and raced ahead of him down the hall. He caught up with her in their darkened bedroom as she teetered trying to remove her underwear.

He flipped the lights on.

"No." She said, her back to him.

"Yes." He spun her gently around to face him. "Let me look." His eyes flitted over her body. It was the first time he'd seen her naked and obviously pregnant. Although her arms and legs were still slender, her belly was rounded in an unmistakable curve. Her swollen breasts begged to be touched: especially since he knew they were off limit. He felt his body respond, finding arousal in the simple fact that he'd been the one to do this to her.

She fidgeted uncomfortably. "I feel….Ugh."

"You're perfect." He closed the space between them in two steps and kissed her slowly, breathing her in.

Her hands sought his. Slender and strong they guided his eager touch. She sucked his neck as they learned the layout of her new body. Together they cupped her breasts before skimming her skin down to caress her belly.

She pulled her mouth roughly from his neck, noting with some satisfaction the red raised welt she'd branded him with. "Enough." Her lips curved in a smile. She nudged him backwards on the bed. "This is a mercy mission."

XXX

Ziva woke to an empty bed. She squinted at the clock in the pearly grey pre dawn. Five a.m. It was much too early for him to be up. She sat up. For a moment panic flashed in her chest: the apartment was silent and velvety black. What if their reunion had been only a dream? Anxiety churned her stomach. She rose swiftly and pulled sidearm from under her pillow. Silently she crept down the hall and peered into the living room. Tony sat with his back to her talking to himself: his words were indecipherable.

She sighed in relief and he jumped.

She deposited her Sig on the end table and sat next to him on the sofa, her hand rested on his knee. "What are you doing up?"

He played with her fingers. "Sometimes I can't breath around you." He said, surprised to hear his own voice, honest and steady.

Her voice was just above a whisper. "That's because you love me. Happens to me too." Her eyes shifted to the coffee table. A ring, a slender band of yellow stones glinted against the glass. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Ungh."

"I'll take that as a yes."

He nodded.

"And you really mean it? My parents didn't threaten you with bodily harm?"

"No."

"No you don't mean it? Or no they didn't threaten your life?"

"I've never meant anything more."

She picked the ring up and felt it between her thumb and forefinger. It was narrow, set so the stones themselves appeared to be linked. "Are these sapphires?"

"Yes."

"In that case." She slipped it over her finger and held her hand out so the light glinted off the band. "Yes."

"You'll marry me?"

"I might never set a date, but I'll wear the ring."

"Perfect." He said as he kissed her, "Want to celebrate?"

She grinned. "Come on. I think I owe you a fashion show."

X

Again, Thanks to all who read, and thank you thank you to all who read and review. Let me know what you think. Reviews totally make me smile! Jeanne


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